Consumer and supplier relationships in Internet Essay

The Internet is one of the great inventions of human kind. Go along with the development of science and technology, Internet changed the face of the world. Especially, in business, Internet plays a vital role because it connects all factors to create the success of business. Internet links customers and suppliers into the stable and mutual benefit’s relationship. Firstly, Internet changes the relationship between customers and suppliers from indirect to direct. It helps to eliminate the â€Å"middle – man† to connect directly the customers and suppliers. In the past, there was only way to buy a product that customers went to the store, where they have contract with the suppliers to provide goods for them. Therefore, customers and suppliers never met together in the real meaning. This process increased a lot of costs. However, when Internet developed, customers and suppliers have opportunities to meet together. To buy the stuff, customers can order directly from suppliers through Internet. By this way, not only does the cost decrease, but also the price is more reasonable. The benefit of Internet created the formation and development of E-commerce and net marketplace. According to page 373 in the textbook, â€Å"online consumer sales grew to an estimated $362 billion in 2012, an increase of more than 15 percent over 2010 (including travel services and digital downloads), with 150 million people purchasing online and an additional 34 million shopping and gathering information but not purchasing† (Laudon, K., & Laudon, J., 2014). Secondly, once Internet developed, the relationship between customers and suppliers is push to improve to the partner relationship. Customer became the partner of supplier. The position of both customers and suppliers are equal. Customers don’t depend on the supplier; in contrast, they are more powerful in choosing their suitable suppliers. Thirdly, it increases the satisfaction and quality of customer service. Nowadays, purchasing and exchanging became easier than ever. To attract customers, suppliers have to take care of their customer’s demand and tend to satisfy it because customers have a lot of choices among a thousand of sellers. Customers can take advantage of price, quality as well as model of product. Thus, to make this relationship become a long term collaboration, besides the diversification of products, suppliers must focus on their service to  keep their customers closer. Reference: Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. (2014). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (13 Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Financial Analysis of Mitchells & Butlers 2007 Annual Report

Title Page Date: 12/12/09 The following report is designed for the purpose of a business analysis. I have chosen to analyse Mitchells & Butlers PLC by firstly, looking closely at the annual report produced by the company over a two year period and secondly, by researching their financial activities further than the annual report explains. I will compare and contrast ratios to help give the reader a better understanding of the company’s profitability, liquidity, activity and leverage. Summary In my analysis of Mitchells and Butlers PLC accounts for the years ending 2007 and 2008 I found that the Group has a very complex financial structure. Especially with the occurrence of a financial disaster which ended in the loss of two years worth of earnings, which, in turn resulted in the departure of the finance director and calls for further boardroom departures from the disgruntled shareholders. Mitchells & Butlers is a high geared business and therefore a risky investment venture. The company are well positioned in the market for long-term success but the ratios do let down the attractiveness of investment by their much lower percentage of current assets to current liabilities, high gearing and low net profit margins. *Brief Historical Background* Mitchells & Butlers is one of the UK’s largest operators of managed establishments with a strong portfolio of branded and unbranded pubs and restaurants with a mass market appeal. Their popular brands include All Bar One, Harvester and Ember Inns. Founded in Smethwick Birmingham as a result of the Beerhouse Act of 1830 easing the law on domestic brewing, Henry Mitchell’s and William Butler’s breweries merged in 1989. The company acquired rival breweries and rapidly expanded and merged with Bass in 1961, emerging as Six Continents before separating into hotel and retail businesses and becoming Mitchells & Butlers once again. Implication of Ratios on Mitchells & Butlers *(M&B)’s Financial Position* Mitchells & Butlers Gross1 profit ratio for both 2008 and 2007 is 25% and 24. 9% respectively. An increase of 0. 1% is satisfactory during these trying times for Mitchells & Butlers PLC. This indicates that operating costs account for 75% of the sales revenue. These huge costs are largely down to M&B’s ‘value and volume’ strategy. The company feel they are well placed in the troubled economy as they offer great value for money. This strategy makes for a high sales turnover but not a huge mark up on the product. They are constantly striving to be as efficient as possible and have a low paid and low skilled workforce to help combat high operating costs, and gain a competitive advantage. The Group have faced a turbulent year, dealing with the economic downturn in consumer spending and the inevitable decline in alcoholic beverage sales across the sector as a whole. This was not helped by the introduction of the smoking ban in England and Wales, following suit from Scotland and Northern Ireland, and costs such as fuel and energy spiralling ever higher. It’s no surprise then, when we look at the Net Profit Margin2 and see that it has decreased by 1. 5% from 10. 9% in 2007 to 9. 4% in 2008. In the midst of a depression this decline is not too alarming. With a Gearing ratio3 of 2. 4:1 in 2008 and 1. 5:1 in 2007 there is a high risk involved when investing in this company. From analysing M & B’s debt structure it seems further leveraging of its balance sheet would be difficult given the harsh, current conditions in debt markets. The Group’s pension fund deficit creates further problems when trying to attract prospective private equity buyers. As you can see it has become a considerably higher geared company in 2008 and this is due to the considerable loss faced by the company in an unexpected twist in the Mitchells & Butlers story. When entering into a property venture with company R20, both groups were advised by the bank, as part of their loan agreement, to take out hedges against interest rates and inflation. This investment would prevent Mitchells & Butlers from losing as much money as they would have, had they not taken out the hedges in the instance that the market turned against them. The bank also advised the companies to do this, two weeks prior to the investment being made as the hedges could take some time to execute. The hedges were purchased mid July, by the end of July the credit crunch had kicked in and the bank withdrew its credit approved terms. Both companies were left with hedges in place but no investment to back them against. M & B held onto their hedges until January 2008 hoping for an upturn in the market. By January 2008 it had become apparent that this was not going to happen and M&B disposed of them. Using them would have been very risky, especially since finance director Naffah had already been let go. â€Å"At the end of last financial year, an exceptional accounting loss of ? 155m post tax was booked in respect of the hedges. The above settlement of the majority of the hedges results in a further ? 119m post tax exceptional loss which will be taken in the current year,† the company said in a statement. Looking equally bleak is M&B’s current ratio4 of 0. 888:1 in 2008 and 0. 391:1 in 2007. Many believe that businesses must have a current ratio of at least 2:1 to survive, proving Michells & Butlers as an unorthodox company. Unbelievably it functions with a negative working capital6, this is due mainly to the company keeping stock levels impeccably low and thus giving the acid test a similar result with a quick ratio5 of 0. 794:1 in 2008 and 0. 343:1 in 2007. Most of the stock is perishable, for example food served in their restaurants. A stock turnover7 of 9. 95 days in 2008 and 9. 75 days in 2007 is quite acceptable in the food and beverage sector. Low stock levels keep the business as liquid as possible. This gives the company some leverage when incorporated with the debtors8 and the creditor’s9 turnover which works out in favour of M&B’s debt structure. Debtors, pay-up within an average of 14. 3days. Contrast this with the creditors who give M&B, on average between the years 2007 and 2008, 66. 4 days of credit. That’s nearly five times as long as M&B allow their debtors. Another consideration I wish to highlight concerning the worryingly low current ratio is that for the most part M&B’s non-current assets are made up of property, plant and equipment. If the company found themselves with cash flow problems these assets could become non-current assets held for sale to help increase the current ratio. Return on Capital employed10 is 20. 18% and 19. 7% in 2008 and 2007 respectively. This is evidence that M&B is still a profitable company contrary to the problems arising in the last two years and are still gaining market share year on year. A three year plan has been put in place to rectify the hedging mishap. Ordinary Shareholders will not receive any dividend pay-outs for the next year three years as well as board members forfeiting their bonuses in a bid to pay off their ? 74m deficit. *How the inclusion of a Cash Flow* helps in the Analysis of the company’s financial position There are several advantages to preparing a cash flow statement along with the balance sheet and profit and loss account. The cash flow statement provides data which allows the reader to better understand where cash has come from, where cash has moved to, and why. If a company has no cash it cannot pay wages or bills or suppliers. Employers won’t come to work if you don’t pay them. Energy companies will cut off their supplies, as could the suppliers if the bills are not paid. If this happens the company may not be able to operate. This is why cash flow statements should be taken seriously by managers and done as often as daily if cash flow is tight. The cash flow statement explains where the cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet come from in greater detail. It takes operating profit and adds back exceptional items, depreciation and amortisation to give us a better understanding of how much cash is to hand, as well increases and decreases in debtors and creditors. In M&B’s cash flow statement we can see that in 2007 M&B acquired ? m worth of Whitbread Pub Restaurants and made additional pension contributions of? 40m. In the cash flow statement figures can be compared more easily, they also aide preparation of forecasts. In both years a considerable amount of cash is spent on property, plant and equipment. It may be that these assets have not had time to realise their full potential. We can see that M&B has increased its cash and cash equiva lents by ? 12m at the end of 2008 compared to its previous year. Differences between the spread of cash year on year is quite apparent. In 2008 shareholders received ? 480m worth of dividends less than in 2007 as part of M&B’s three year strategy to eliminate hedging debt amounting to around two years worth of earnings. Conclusion At first glance, the ratios I have calculated show the illusion of a company in the midst of a financial crisis. But Mitchells and Butlers are breaking all the rules and coming out with a profit, succeeding where many competitors are failing, due to the down turn in the alcoholic beverage market and consumer spending overall. The hedging losses have no doubt affected a great deal of critical decision making regarding Mitchells and Butlers finances including investment attractiveness, risk taking and dividend payouts. The high amount of non-current assets is due to the extensive property portfolio which helps diffuse the worrying situation of such a low current and quick ratio. This company is constantly expanding and is year on year gaining market share. It adapts appropriately to its ever changing environment, as it keeps up to date with the economic climate and responds quickly to consumers needs. The ‘value & volume’ strategy is working well and the brands are becoming very well established in the UK. Debt payment is accounted for in the long term financial plan and the future looks far from dismal. I see a company trying to be as efficient as possible whilst waiting for the storm to pass. Appendix Gross Profit Ratio Gross profit x 100 Sales (turnover) 2008 – 477/ 1908 x100 = 25% 2007 – 472 / 1894 x 100 = 24. 9% Net Profit Margin Ratio Net Profit Before Interest & Tax x100 = Sales / Turnover 2008 – 179 / 1908 x 100 = 9. 4% 2007 – 207 / 1894 x 100 = 10. % Gearing Fixed Income forms of Finance : equity Fixed Income forms of Finance = Borrowings 2755 + Debentures 33 + preference shares 14 =2802 Equity – Capital Share 34 + reserves 2008 – 2802 : 1175 = 2. 4:1 2007 – 2317 + 47 + 14 = 2378 : 1576 = 1. 5:1 Current Ratio Current Assets : Current Liabilities 2008 – current assets 253 + non-current assets held for sal e 114 = 367 367:413 = 0. 888:1 2007 – current assets 303 + non-current assets held for sale 6 = 309 309:790 = 0. 391:1 Non assets held for sale within the next twelve months Quick Ratio / Acid Test Current Assets – stock Current Liabilities 2008 – 367 – 39 = 328. 328/ 413 = 0. 794:1 309 – 38 = 271 271 / 790 = 0. 343:1 Working Capital Days of Inventory /Stock Turnover Stock at the year end x365 Cost of goods sold 2008 – 39 / 1431 x 365 = 9. 95 days 2007 – 38 / 1422 x 365 = 9. 75 days Debtors Collection Period Debtors Turnover x365 Sales 2008 – 80 / 1908 x 365 = 15. 3 days 2007 – 69 / 1894 x365 = 13. 3 days an average of 14. 3 days Creditors Payment Period Trade Creditors x365 Cost of Sales 008 – 276 / 1431 x 365 = 70. 4 days 2007 – 243 / 1422 x 365 = 62. 4 days An average of 66. 4 days Return on Capital Employed Ratio Profit before interest & tax x 100 Capital employed 2008 – 179 / 1058 x 100 = 16. 9% 2007 – 207 / 1202 x 100 = 17. 2% Profit & Losss Account is profit after tax + any interest paid = 127 + 171 Capital Employed represents Share Capital =Called up shared capita l and share premium account = 34 + 14; the balance on the profit and loss account + 127 + 171 and any other reserve accounts in the balance sheets + 3 + 697 + 12 = 1058 for 2008

A close focus on act III of The Crucible Essay Example for Free

A close focus on act III of ‘The Crucible’ Essay The Crucible (395) , John Proctor (276) , Tituba (113) , Giles Corey (38) , Actions (5) Haven't found the essay you want? Get your custom sample essay for only $13.90/page ? The play, ‘The crucible’, shows how people react to mass hysteria caused by a group of people, as people did during the McCarthy hearings in the 1950’s. The â€Å"House un-American activities committee† searched for communist sympathisers because they were felt to be a threat to the state. Many Americans were wrongly accused of being communist sympathisers and were convicted and sentenced without any real evidence of them having committed a crime. Mere suspicion was classed as evidence. And like the during the witch hunts, anyone who spoke out was accused which made defending yourself a death wish. This is how McCarthyism was linked with the witch-hunts that had taken place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The title of the play describes exactly what was happening at the time of the witch-hunts. A crucible is a container in which metals are heated to extracted the pure element from impurities, and crucible is another word for a cauldron that witches use to brew their magic potions in. So the word ‘crucible’ could metaphorically be used to explain how the activities in Salem were like a potion brewing in a cauldron with the potion being ‘mixed’ to separate the witches (impurities) from the good, god-loving citizens (element). The opening scene of the play shows the girls dancing in the woods around a cauldron, they are spotted by Parris who also see’s that one of them is naked.  The people of Salem were Puritans and so dancing was perceived as a sin.  The morning after the dancing, two of the youngest girls cannot wake from bed. A doctor is called to help the girls but he cannot diagnose what is wrong with them or how they can be helped, His only advice is to look to the unnatural. The girls do not confess to their activities until Parris confronts them. Abigail says all that they did was dance and strongly denies that any of them were naked, ‘Uncle, we did dance.’ ‘There is nothin’ more. I swear it, uncle.’ Mrs Putnam, the mother of the other ill child, believes that her daughter Ruth and Parris’s daughter Betty’s illnesses are caused by the devil. Parris calls for Hale who is an expert on ‘demonic arts’  Parris is the minister of the Village, much to the Putnam’s dismay. Mr Putnam’s brother was in competition with Parris for the position of minister and so the Putnam’s have a grudge against not only Parris, but the Nurse family who prevented him from being minister and many of there neighbours for various reasons. Especially with Giles Corey who has worked out that the Putnam’s will do anything to get their hands on other peoples land, ‘This man is killing his neighbours for their land!’ John Proctor also has a grudge against Parris. Hale arrives in Salem, He is a confident and well education young man who believes he has all the answers. As he is examining Betty Giles Corey distracts him by asking him questions about his wife. Giles says that his wife reads strange books whilst they are in bed and while she is reading, he cannot pray. Hale carries on trying to help Betty with little effect. Parris tells Hale that he thinks he saw a kettle in the grass with the girls in the wood with something moving inside it. Hale questions Abigail but she denies that she drank blood and called the devil. Abigail then realises that if the truth is found out she will get in a lot of trouble and so she passes the blame onto Tituba, Parris’s black slave, by saying that Tituba forced her to drink blood and even blames her wicked dreams on the slave. Tituba confesses to save herself from being hung. She mentions four people’s names that she supposedly saw with the devil. Abigail mentions more and more names and then the rest of the girls join in, mentioning the names of anyone they hate, have a grudge against or just dislike. As the girls cried out more names, the hysteria began to grow.  By accusing others of witchcraft they are diverting attention away from their original misdemeanours. We can see that the Proctors relationship is not very strong, they make petty small talk over dinner and don’t appear to be happy together. One reason for this may be that Elizabeth has not forgiven John for having an affair with Abigail whilst she was ill.  Whilst Mary was at court with the other girls where people were being tried for witchcraft she made a poppet for Elizabeth. Abigail was sitting next to Mary whilst she made it. By now 39 women had been arrested and Goody Osborn was sentenced to hanging.  Mary, who had always been a very shy, timid girl was now becoming very easily led along by Abigail and just as confused between fact and fantasy as the other girls and. This is apparent when she tells the Proctors that Sarah Good had confessed to having made contact with Lucifer, and that Sarah Goods spirit tried to choke her in the courtroom. Mary then speaks of even more fantasy when she says that terrible stomach pains had been inflicted upon her when she had turned the old woman away whilst she was begging. Mary also accused the old woman of mumbling a spell to her, but Sarah Good claimed it was not a spell, it were her commandments. The court asked her to repeat the commandments, but she could not. A close focus on act III of ‘The Crucible’. (2017, Oct 04).

The role of using first language (L1) and translation in English as a Essay - 1

The role of using first language (L1) and translation in English as a foreign language ( EFL) classes - Essay Example The plan is to conduct interviews with a number of teachers (3 additional teachers). The teachers have been chosen from different schools. I have met 5 of them in the Indian school (elementary) where they teach only English (no Arabic or Indian used at all). The students in this school are mixed, males and females who came from different countries: China, Egypt, Iraq, India and many other countries. The remaining 6 teachers have been chosen from 4 different elementary schools, in which they were employed in basic education (co-education). First, I am planning to divide the answers in different boxes. Each box will include the number of teachers who agreed or disagreed. The first box will include part 1 Question, the second box will include part 2 questions, and the final box will include part 3 questions (see appendix 3). Then, I will change the numbers to percentages (e.g. 60% of the teachers agree/disagree). Charts will be used in this section, so that the information will be clearly presented. A second prong of the methodology involves planned observation of the teachers and the students inside the class, to know whether they are using translation or L1 in their classes. I think one of the most underused data collection methods is observation. According to Moor (1995), â€Å"The information we collect as an observer can be used to analyze student learning, the learning environment and students attitudes toward learning and schooling.† In order to collect data in this research, I visited different schools in Oman. I joined different classes. An important objective of these visits was to get to know more about teachers, students, and what is happing inside the classrooms. However, my main purpose was to know more about the students and the teachers inside of these classes. During these observations, I wanted to know how the teachers and students were interacting with each other in the class, how the teachers taught English, and whether or

Literary theory is an organon of methods. Discuss this statement Essay

Literary theory is an organon of methods. Discuss this statement - Essay Example From this line of thinking, someone can deduce the meaning of synonyms/unethical words, the meaning of homonymous/equivocal, and the meaning of paronymous/denominative words. These facts lead to the divisibility of speech into either simple, or structured with composition1. Only structured forms of speech can be false or true. What is said of a subject can be said to be the description of the subject as a whole. Under normal circumstances, what is said about a subject is always meant to answer the question of exactly what the subject is. What is said to be contained in a subject is always meant to describe the content of the subject. These are things whose existence completely depend on the existence of the subject. What is contained in a subject can also be referred to as inherence. Some things can be predicated of a subject, but do not exist in any subject. For instance, â€Å"man† might be predicated of John or James, but fail to be in any subject. Some things can be in a subject, but cannot be predicated of a subject. In such cases, a certain specific point of grammatical knowledge is in the subject but cannot be predicated of any subject because of its individuality. Some things have the ability to be predicated of a subject and be in a subject. A good example of such a case will be science. Science is in the mind as in a subject while at the same time can be predicated of geometry. There are also things that cannot be in any subject, neither can they be predicated of any subject. The reason as to why they cannot be predicted is that they are individuals. They cannot be in a subject because they are substances2. Organon can also help in the comprehensive, explicit, and formal understanding of the relationship between logic and language. Basic linguistic formscan be classified into prepositions and simple terms, verbs and nouns, negation, the number of simple propositions, on modal propositions, and studies on the excluded

American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

American history - Essay Example The temperance movement was a culmination of growing religious and moral sentiments in the North. The main goal of the temperance movement according to Blocker, Tyrrell and Fahey was â€Å"to define and control alcohol consumption† (40). During the colonial era drinking was socially acceptable but in the nineteenth century it was found to be no longer respectable as it viewed as the cause of social evils. Alcoholism was often associated with evils such as domestic violence, poverty, crime, prostitution and poor health and as such needed to be regulated. The aim was not to ban drinking and eliminate the production of alcohol but to moderate its use as it was affecting the economic development. Later in the nineteenth century, the movement advocated for abstinence from drinking alcoholic beverages and this goal was achieved in 1920 when â€Å"manufacture, sale and transport of alcoholic beverages in the US and its possessions† was prohibited nationwide through the eightee nth Amendment to the US constitution (Blocker et al. 42). The first national organization responsible for temperance efforts was the American Temperance Society (ATS) founded in 1826. Women also played a great role in pushing for temperance reforms as they had moral influence. They did this through Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) formed in 1874. Another organization that played crucial role in pushing for legislative agenda was the Anti-Saloon League of America (ASLA). It saw the passing of eighteenth Amendment although it was repealed in 1833. The Educational Reform movement was also prominent during this period. Education was viewed as the cause and solution of many problems in the society hence it was geared to solving current problems of each epoch. Reformers like John Dewey believed that the society could only be reformed through education reforms (Horn 42). According to Berube (99) and Horn (41-55) there were

Hospitality Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Hospitality Management - Assignment Example he routines of life, and there are those who travel to see and enjoy the world around them (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-hospitality-management.htm). When people travel, the need for an industry such as hospitality enters. They need to stay in hotel and eat in restaurant. Perhaps travelers are not even aware of it, but they are patronizing hospitality industry. When they step out of the comfort of their own abode, and start to travel they should be rewarded by good hospitality of the places they have chosen to stay. Running travel agencies, hotels and restaurants is not an easy task. It is a very demanding career. People who are involved with this kind of business must possess high quality of hospitality, flexibility, and charm. It should be kept in mind all the time that these travelers are probably strangers in this place, and quality of service would mean a lot to them. Travelers often times come back to a place because they experience great accommodation in establishments they went to. Good service, being polite, good food and clean premises are all associated to a good travel experience. When tourists bid their goodbyes they will take with them the memory of your hospitality. Therefore, it is of an utmost importance that we have the best knowledge, and that we have got the best training in the area of what we are doing when we enter this field of industry. The history of hospitality industry can be traced back to the Colonial Period in the 17th century. There have been many considerable changes from years that passed till the present day. The industry has survived World Wars, the Depression Era, and many more. The commerce of hospitality that we know today has taken its form in 1950s and 1960s, and developed to be a very important industry (Dr. Miller). The word hospitality came from the French word â€Å"hospice† which means literally to provide for the weary and to take care of the travelers. Early industry of hospitality truly started in the days of

Managing the value chain Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing the value chain - Case Study Example American PC companies, by contrast, generate roughly 40-50 percent of their total production value in East Asia. Seagate, the current market leader for hard disk drives, is estimated to generate around 75 percent of its overall production value in East Asia, primarily in the triangle that comprises Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. European electronics multinationals have fairly high OPRs, but only in the last decade have major European electronics firms discovered East Asia (Lasserre and Schuette 1995). We estimate that during the early 1990s major European electronics firms generated roughly 15-20 percent of their total production value in Asia. The geographical location and other factors such as proximity to low cost labor markets dictate a different value chain for japanese companies. That is the reason why I have decised to focus on Sony and have a closer look on the supply value chain as well as customer value chain creation. The scope for centralized control at Sony diminishes with increasing distance; once Sony extends its value-chain across national boundaries, it is faced with complex coordination problems and the risk of abrupt disruptions.. While production-related disruptions decline with increasing product maturity, demand-related disruptions and abrupt changes in management decisions brought on by financial markets do not. Sony was faced with a very different challenge; they had hesitated too long in moving production of products to East Asia (Ernst and O'Connor 1992). Under the impact of the yen appreciation, Sony risked losing market share in the United States and Europe, especially to the aggressive new competitors from Korea. A quick response on a massive scale was required to roll back these new challengers. Production ramp-up had to occur quickly, and cost and quality had to be tightly controlled. Under such conditions, centralized management control was a perfectly rational choice. Developing local capabilities and linkages through "trial-and-error" would have been a time-consuming process, and thus had to be discarded. It is important to note that specific features of consumer electronics are important for the organization of Sony production networks. Lower end consumer devices have a variety of characteristics that are conducive for the establishment of global export platform mega-plants. They are homogeneous products with large economies of scale in which close interaction with customers is not required. They are characterized by a high divisibility. Different stages in the value-chain can be easily separated, and fundamental changes in design methodology and the shift from metallic to plastic parts have facilitated offshore production, even for relatively complex components such as drums, video heads, and small motors.2 With but few exceptions (such as picture tubes), most components and subassemblies are also characterized by low transportation costs, and can be easily moved between different locations.3 There is ample empirical evidence that Japanese firms in general are laggards in international production compared with their American and European counterparts. A survey conducted byJETRO (the Japanese External Trade Organization) in December 1995 found that the ratio of overseas

Significance of Organizational Behaviour in Managing Human Resources Essay

Significance of Organizational Behaviour in Managing Human Resources - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in almost all cases, human resources are considered as the key towards the success of a business organization. Considering the tight competition in the global markets, proper management of human resources has gained importance within the private and public sector. In general, this report will discuss the significant contribution of organizational behavior in the management of human resources. Â  As compared to the use of another leadership style, this report will highlight the benefit of using transformational leadership style when it comes to managing, motivating and maximizing the use of each employee’s talent and acquired skills. With this in mind, differences between the benefits of using transformational leadership will be compared with the use of autocratic, authoritative and transactional leadership approach to managing employees. Also related to the idea of motivating employees to perform well in their assigned task, th is report will explore the benefit of using intrinsic rewards over the use of an extrinsic form of rewards. A corporate leadership is a special skill that each manager should possess in order to make them become a competent leader. In almost all circumstances, it is unacceptable for a leader to make a quick judgment towards people and/or a business situation without having a concrete evidence to back him up in the end. It means that a good leader is expected to have a combination of wisdom, integrity, sensitivity, and tenacity (WITS). Since a manager must always base decisions on concrete facts, the author mentioned that a good leader must have these traits to be able to have a clear vision of the business trends. Kotter mentioned that having a good leadership skill is important in terms of enabling managers to become more effective in terms of delegating the task to each employee. Even though there are some managers who are fully equipped with proper management skills, some of them will remain unable to make a business successful in terms of competing in the global market because of the absence of good leadership skill.

Poetry and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Poetry and society - Essay Example It has the ability to remind the people about the past, present and future. In short, the ability of poems or poetry in touching the hearts and souls of the people is unquestionable. Since poetry has the ability to touch the souls or emotions of the people, it is often argued that poetry can be used effectively for emotional healing. Emotional problems in this world are growing day by day. Medicines and other methods of therapy have some limitations in addressing the emotional problems such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety of the people. Since poems or music has the ability to speak to the souls, it is believed that poetry or music therapy may help the people with mental problems to get out of the troubles. According to Bouchard, poetry is one of the mediums most conducive to personal, emotive expression. This paper analyses how poetry can be used effectively for emotional healing. The number of people, suffering from emotional problems is growing day by day. The major reason for the growing emotional problems in the society is the life style changes and the loss of morality and ethics in the society. Upcoming generation, especially the children and young adults are facing a lot of emotional problems in recent times. Richard Gold (Founder of Pongo volunteers) and his volunteers conducted a study among children and young adults in juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters, psychiatric hospitals, and other organizations, to know more about the ability of poetry in solving emotional problems. Gold and his team used a carefully constructed model to encourage written expression that will target those areas which are most affecting the youths’ circumstances (early childhood trauma, such as abuse, rape, addiction, death and violence). After this study, Gold has written a post on the Pongo site blog, entitled â€Å"Poetry Saved My Life†, which is giv en below: â€Å"Ive seen that lifes worst experiences can exist as strangers

The Effects of Hip Hip on Our Culture Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Hip Hip on Our Culture Essay The Effects of Hip-Hop in Our Culture There are many differing opinions on whether or not Hip-Hop has a detrimental effect on our culture and youth today. The question I ask is whether it is life portraying art, or art portraying life? Anytime there is an increase in crime, and a decrease in the number of high school graduates there must be something left to blame. Although it may seem easy to say that the media has an effect on the way we see things around us, to what extent is that true? I grew up during the rise in Hip-Hop and believe that it does have both a positive and negative effect on my generation. Early Hip-Hop was viewed as a way for young urban New Yorkers to freely express themselves. It was a new art form accessible to anyone. You didn’t need a lot of money or expensive resources to rap. You didn’t have to invest in lessons, it was a verbal skill that with enough practice anyone could perfect (www. daveyd. com/rapphist3). Another reason hip hop became popular is because there were no set rules. Anyone could rap about anything as long as you were original and rhymed to the beat (www. daveyd. com/rapphist4). Those facts still are true today. If you went into an inner city public school you may be surprised at the number of young children who aspire to become rap artist. In the Black community music, dance, and art is at the forefront of our culture. Many of these traditions are due to our African Heritage, and will probably remain embedded in us for generations to come. Hip hop has created a lot opportunities for black businesses, and entrepreneurship. It has created wealth for Artists that were born in and lived much of their lives in financial hardship. They are given a record deal and many become rich almost instantly. This may have an adverse effect on young impressionable adults. Fancy cars, Enormous jewels, expensive clothing, and the most beautiful women from around the world fill music videos and other media outlets that cover Hip-Hops culture. The lyrics in most songs today express the benefits of being rich, being famous, and having anything that you desire with no discretion or consequence. The agony in this is that everyone wants to me a Millionaire. Are we really afforded the opportunities that we hear about, see portrayed, and even sing along to? For a lot of young adults the answer is yes. With little education, not a lot of money and a few good hooks they also can be a millionaire or wealthy. Hip-Hop not only sells records but also dreams. Young adults idolize Hip-Hop artists and believe that they should also have the things that they were able to obtain. Hip-Hop has also caused controversy about the way women are portrayed in videos and also within the lyrical content of its music. I personally believe that if a woman is in a video doing provocative things and dressed in an inappropriate manner that is her choice. These women choose to put themselves in these situations. I also believe that certain language used to described women in many songs are offensive but we all have a right to freedom of speech. Reality is there are women who don’t respect themselves as society expects them to. More women today are open with their sexuality and may view what was once taboo as okay. Some women see it as a profession that they are being paid to do, what you see in a video is simply acting and not who they really are. Hip-Hop is an art and we sometimes loose sight of that. Just as in movies, something’s are fiction, just a figure of imagination. The media overall has an influence in our society. Music, television, magazines, and newspapers, all play apart and how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us. The way an individual interprets things are solely based on their own opinions, views, and lifestyles. The Media feeds you information and everyone digests it differently. So, the question remains does life imitate art of does art imitate life? In Hip-Hop the answer is art imitates life. The images that are seen and the lyrics that are heard are simply an artist painting a picture of the world around them. The picture isn’t always pretty or relatable but its life. It’s the issues that go unaddressed by our government, it’s the stories of poverty, it’s the pain that a lot of young adults feel, it’s the dreams of making it, and for some just a good beat to dance to. It is the responsibility of parents to censor what they allow their children to watch, read and listen to. Home is the first influence in our lives. We are a product of our environment and so is Hip-Hop.

Managing Technology Essay Example for Free

Managing Technology Essay Q1. a. Explain briefly about Managing technology. Answer Managing technology involves concepts like new venture, innovation, and research and RD infrastructure. We can say that technology is the useful tool which controls the environment and also acts as an instrument which converts the natural resources in to useful goods. This is the main factor which affects the growth of an organization. that’s why managing technology is essential for any organization. Some issues related to the Managing technologies described below * Technology and long-term cycles: There are some economists who argue that technology affects growth and recession in the world economy. The infrastructure is useful for maturation of the technologies. When the downturn starts to come up again then organizations has to invest the capital equipment that is based on the new technologies. * Technology and comparative advantage: At the national level, the firms will have more value when it has both the comparative advantage and also the technological lead. All the other companies from the world look for your organization. There are some of the emerging technologies that have to be dealt when you are discussing about managing technology. The emerging technologies are the new technologies that are sometime considered critical for humanity’s future. b. Explain any two alternatives for acquiring new technologies. We are presently living in the competitive world. The organizations have to use the advanced technologies to remain in competitive market of today, for long. The technology managers have less time, fewer resources and more problems for the implementation of the technology. There are many alternatives for acquiring the internal and external technologies. Some of these mentioned are the best * Develop technology in-house: This involves development of the technology within the house. In this, the company has to make an estimate of the financial costs that are associated with the Research and Development (RD) and the cost of the opportunities that are associated with RD. This also assesses the suitability of the employees for the new project * Enter into joint ventures: We know that many of the companies share the costs of the new technology; in the same way, the benefits are also shared. The membership of the research gets more attraction when the risks are high and the costs are heavy. There will be existence of very good relationship between the key supplier and the major customer. Q2. a. Explain in brief about the six phases in technology forecasting process. Answer- According to our working definitions, the main function of the technology is â€Å"to lead the decision making process towards profitable solutions with minimum uncertainties† Six phases of technology forecasting are * Identification of needs: After identifying the expected outputs and the objectives of the future, a thorough analysis is done in order to make sure the relevance of technology forecasting. * Prepare project: In this phase, the forecasting activities that are planned and resources are allocated. The roles of each human resource are carefully prepared and explained.. * Define objectives: This phase once again goes through the objectives that are defined in the first and second phases. This phase decides the dimensions of the forecast. * Perform analysis and develop Technology Forecast (TF): This is the central part of the present research. In this phase, we start with defining the boundaries of the technological system that has to be forecasted. * Validate results: in these steps forecasting process is to validate results. This includes the customer satisfaction with the results of TF. * Application of TF: The last phase in the technological forecast is the application of TF ·. This depends mainly on the needs and the formulated objectives. b. What are the benefits of technology absorption? The benefits that we get from technology absorption exercises, as evidenced by Government and industry experiences are * Repeated collaborations for the same product/ process are avoided. * Acquisition of further technologies becomes selective. * Ability is developed to unpackaged the technology * Savings can be affected in foreign exchange due to use of indigenous alternatives. * Effective utilization is made of available indigenous research expertise and facilities to achieve the desired results * Know-why and technology up gradation capabilities are built-up * Technically competent groups of scientists and engineers trained in technology absorption get matured and strengthened * The base for technological self-reliance is enhanced. We gain the benefits of technology diffusion, ranging from RD services to the larger sales. * Industry should attempt to obtain best available technology closest to international trends and provide RD at the stage of project planning. * Speedy indigenization of raw materials and components * Efforts for unpack aging and indigenization of tailor-made equipment in the acquired technology * Enhancing exports of products based on absorbed and upgraded technology. * use of national and international research facilities and expertise * Involving users, suppliers of components and materials, research organizations in undertaking absorption exercises. Q3. Explain in brief about the innovation management. Answer- We can define ‘innovation management’ as the systematic processes that help the organizations in developing new and improved products, services and business processes. This involves the use of creative ideas of an organization employee that brings new innovations to the market place, quickly and efficiently. In business, innovation should not be only limited to the big ground breaking ideas, creative workshops and product based companies. Innovation is often small, incremental changes to products, services and processes. The innovation involves all the managers from different departments. This needs to be planned and managed as a core business covering all parts of a business. This needs to be integrated at the strategic and operational levels. The activities of the innovation need to be driven by the strategy and current business imperatives. The successful innovation culture consists of all the aspects of a business, and these aspects have to be managed effectively and efficiently like any other core business. Innovation can be built into business, at three levels. The three levels are the annual business planning process, quarterly innovation and day-to-day activities. Innovation is managed through some sort of platform or application. There are two types of innovation tools that are, an electronic suggestion scheme, and a management system controlling the innovation process. The management of the innovation system needs to be given to the senior management to control the overall system of innovation. The best practices and tools are applied consistently and appropriately across the organization. Any platform should encourage for the learning activity as a core feature. Installing the innovation culture in any of the company has leaders and teams with ability and commitment. In order to create culture of continuous innovation, the organization requires leadership and commitment from the senior management team. The management team also sees that some staff members in the organization are rewarded for the innovative ideas they put in. The senior management needs to encourage the innovative ideas from the staff. Q4. Explain the implementation of new technology. Answer- Sound planning is essential for the success of any technology’s implementation. The failures that are likely to arise during the implementation process may be due to the poor planning or inadequate resources. Valuing the conflicts will facilitate the organization to keep away from these problems, and for the management, to anticipate the likely trouble spots and ease it accordingly. There are a number of less-substantial activities, which are critical and people those are involved must: 1.Have an understanding of the organization predominantly, in terms of its traditions and principles are essential. 2.The underlying principle of any new system implementation should be able to provide all the better services to all concerned through it. 3. This information has to be conversed to all concerned parties.4.A complete review of every business processes and, where required, academic practice, and developing and introducing new policies before tuning the system to meet the decided requirements should be undertaken. 5. The complete approval of the difficulty and flexibility of the system should be determined. 6. The inbuilt dangers of customization of any software should be understood. 7. A thorough system test procedures should be conducted, while accepting the likely need for software malfunction and improvements. 8. The training and development to be conducted for the internal staff should be planned in advance.9.The users must be trained, to use the system. Planning and implementation: A thorough plan with efficient management is necessary for success, and to work against the fear of high costs, extended time, losing key persons and common disappointment with the result Considerations for implementation  · Be aggressive: An important consideration when implementing a new technology is to be aggressive to set up a strong competitive edge  · Be cautious: If the new chosen technology provides revenue to your business, then it is necessary to be careful while making any major modifications in the new technology.  · Be quick: It is important for you to be quick enough to implement the small changes to your chosen technology and to supervise their impact.  · Be slow: If major changes affect your business, it is vital to make the implementation changes slowly.  · Be safe: During the implementation of a new technology, the better time to address the potential security needs is at the time of design and development. It is better to employ a security expert who will take care of the privacy of the organization. Q5. Briefly describe technological development options and strategies Answer- A country’s technology development strategy is determined by identifying the technological needs with potential technological developments in the world and a thorough assessment of available and emerging technologies. Then, the country determines a strategy to import technologies which can be produced locally. Now, there is a universal realization that unless a concerted attempt is made to build local technological capabilities for absorbing imported technologies, any attempt to develop indigenous technologies encounters enormous difficulties. Even with regard to imported technology, it is essential for a country to be able to select, digest, adapt and improve it for local consumption. All of these efforts justify greater priority and allocation of resources to RD. A requirement for efficient utilization of RD resources is the development of technological infrastructure within the country, including institution building, manpower development, and provision of support facilities and creation of a modern environment Whether or not an organization would generate or develop its own technology and with what intensity it would follow, the efforts in this respect would depend upon technology strategy it has planned or adopted. Though the term strategy is commonly used as an antonym of tactics it actually implies long-term, purposeful and interconnected efforts. Technology Strategy may accordingly be defined as a strategy to deal with the technology and related issues at macro and micro levels, with respect to set objectives. Let us have a quick overview of types of technology strategies Macro-level strategy- At macro level, each country outlines and adopts a technology strategy to achieve its political, economic and social objectives and translates the same into action through appropriate policies and mechanisms. Micro-level strategy-The extraordinary range and potential uses of contemporary technology have important consequences for industrial and commercial firms. The industrial and organizational disorder produced by technological change, and increased international competitive pressures provide threats and opportunities for firms. An effective strategic approach to technology allows firms to cope better with these changes, and reduces the threats and insecurities facing them and their employees. The basic role of technology strategy in business planning is to help ask the questions like: what business the corporation plans to be in and how it should be positioned? Effective planning identifies the present decisions required to create desirable and competitive corporate futures. In particular, technology strategy must anticipate the transient impact of technological innovation on the future competencies of the corporation. Q6. Explain Technology Development Answer- Though, broadly speaking, the D · of RD covers Technology Development the latter has much wider implication. Process- The various stages of technology development process or life cycle is starting from the generation of ideas in the RD department. We may observe that this process is tedious and requires top management commitment and support from outside. Risk factor is large and the success rate depends upon the quality of inputs provided to the RD department. Technology Development Approaches The approaches of technology development- * In-house RD: Technology development activities are generally carried out through setting up of separate in-house RD units within the business, managed and headed by a well-qualified and experienced chief, directly reporting to the top management. However, this unit has close interactions with other departments within the company and there could even be exchange of personnel among different departments. * Co-operative RD: A group of companies in a particular industrial sector promotes an RD centre as a society or a non-profit making company. The RD is funded by the participating companies and the government. This RD centre undertakes RD as per the requirements of the companies in their larger interest, and sets up expertise and facilities of common nature and which are usually expensive. * Contract research: A company may contract components of technology development to suitable RD organizations, academic institutions, or consultants or experts. The in-house RD unit may coordinate the progress of the activities, to develop the desired technologies. This approach usually requires considerable internal technological and managerial capabilities coupled with strong Science and Technology (ST) information base. * RD collaboration: A company may collaborate with another company in areas of common interest, if costs of development are high. Such inter-firm collaborative RD efforts are becoming common in developed countries mainly due to high costs and shorter technology life cycles. It is found in areas such as micro-electronics, materials, and information technologies. * Research societies: Large corporations or industrial houses may set up independent research societies, in addition to their in-house RD units. Such societies may undertake RD activities mostly relating to the broad interests of the promoting companies in line with the national interests. Research companies: Large firms of technology innovative industrialists may support research companies, specifically for conducting research and development of technologies for others on commercial basis. The development costs and reasonable profits are recovered from the sale and transfer of technologies.

Mauritius Islands As A Destination

Mauritius Islands As A Destination The destination marketing plan will be based on a small island, which is not even visible on the world map, called Mauritius. It is a volcanic island of lagoons and beaches in the Indian Ocean, it is known for its stability and racial harmony among its blend of population. It is an island situated at about 900 kilometres east of Madagascar and about 3,943 kilometres south-west of India. (Blunt 2005) It has more that 150 kilometres of beaches and the lagoon is protected by the worlds third largest coral reef. Its population is estimated to 1,2 million which forms a blend of cultures from India, Africa, Europe and China. Mauritius was discovered by a Portuguese sailor, Don Pedro Mascarenhas. It was occupied by the Dutch (1598 1710), French (1715 1810) and British (1810 1968). It gained its independence on the 12th March 1968 and its Republic status on 12th March 1992. It has a democracy based on the British democracy. The currency used there is the Mauritian Rupee, made up of 100cents and its capital city is Port Louis. The Mauritian economy is dependent upon the textile, tourism and sugar industry. Currently the destination is attracting tourist mainly from European Countries and the destinations current mission to keep its loyal customer and promote in countries where people are not aware of Mauritius as a tourist destination. They want to maintain the image of Mauritius as being a paradise to their current markets. The Destination would want to regain the French market following the chikunguya disease, to attract more tourists from American countries and become the number one tourist destination in the Indian Ocean. Jobber (2004:210) defines segmentation as the identification of individuals or organizations with similar characteristics that have significant implications for the determination of marketing strategy. In other words it means dividing a segment into sub-segments because customers differ in tastes, needs, attitudes, lifestyles, family size and composition. Identifying these submarkets will help the destination to serve its customers with similar requirements efficiently and effectively. The more a destination knows about its customers the better they will be able to satisfy their needs. A segment is identified by dividing them according to the purpose of travel, the buyers need/motivations and benefits sought, the buyers behaviour, their psychographic profile, the price of the ticket and the demographic, economic and geographic profile. The identified segments for Mauritius were people aged 25 and upwards with a medium to high income per year, because the price of a ticket for the destination is around  £600  £700 and the life cycle identified was newly married couples, full nest II, empty nest I and empty nest II. It has been found that it is mostly leisure tourists that come to the destinations and their motivation honeymoon, young married couple seeking paradise for their honeymoons, looking for a quiet place, this applies to retired people, families willing to escape the European winter and seeking sea and beach holiday, individuals seeking for water- sports and tourist coming for cultural interest. Most of the tourists coming to Mauritius are Loyal and spend a lot during their stay. Regarding price, tourists are quite sensitive to this variable when the price is high less tourist travel to the destination when the price is reduced more tourists travel. Price is also an indicator of the perceived quality, s o when playing with the price variable one should be careful of the quality that it is going to reflect. Market Positioning Position is about the perceived image of the destination by customers compared to other nearby destinations. Customers has this perceived image of Mauritius being paradise when they look at the brochure and see the white sandy beaches and the turquoise ocean. This perceived image would help to make the island the number one destination in the Indian Ocean. Marketing Mix/branding image The marketing mix is defined as a combination of controllable variables that can be used to achieve the desired levels of sales in target markets. This combination is known as the 4 Ps, which includes product, price, place and promotion. Product In terms of the tourism industry, the product covers the complete experience from the time a tourist reaches their destination to the time he/she leaves. Therefore the tourism product is a mixture of attraction and facilities at the destination, facility and destination. The role of marketing is to increase awareness of the product, improve their presentation and their delivery to customers. One has to bear in mind that when a customer buys a tourism product they are actually buying the expectation of benefits; it is the benefits that are the product. Thus the product should match customers needs. The tourism product comprises of five components: Destination attractions and environment Destination facilities and services Accessibility of the destination Images of the destination Price to the consumer (Middleton 1994) The destinations approach to the product mix will be doing a market research to see what customer perceptions of the product are and used the information meet their needs. It can also be done on non-users to see what attraction or facilities the destination will need to build up. To attract more customers the destination will introduce packages made by tour operators such as when tourists staying in certain hotels they will have free admission at certain attraction. This type of package will particularly suit families. Extending the usage of the products will help to achieve this strategy as well, such as offering one free night to customers if they are staying for a weekend. The destination could also introduce an airline, like Ryanair in Europe, which would do flights in the Indian Ocean only, such as flights from Mauritius to other island in the Indian Ocean at a low price. Price Tourism businesses deal with different segments at the same time and they frequently use different price for the different segments. Pricing is a very complex decision due to the high degree of competition and the inaccuracy in forecasting levels of demand. It may vary not only because of the industrys characteristics but also due to other factors such as weather, terrorism and strikes. There exists no universal way of pricing, price will always vary. Pricing acts as an indicator of quality, thus it can be used to assess quality before purchase. The characteristics that affect pricing are the following: Perishability: Intensive capital investment Cost of intensive staff employed Customers characteristics Regarding pricing the destination will use a low pricing strategy at the beginning to encourage long-run demands, capture market share from competitors and discourage any potential new entrant to enter the market. If it is observed that there is a high proportion frequent customer, this means that the customers are satisfied with the product and customer loyalty has been created. Then price could be raised at a reasonable level to maximise profits. The price could also be lowered during off-peak season to attract customer and non-users as well that could try the destination. Special price could be given to newly married couples for their honeymoon, if they did like the destination by word of mouth they will tell it to their other friends who might use the destination for their honeymoons. (Ernie 1992) Place Place is the element of the marketing mix which includes channel of distribution and physical distribution. Channel distribution includes tour operators, retailers and travel agents. Channels should be chosen according to the other the other three marketing mix. Choice of location, which is the point of sale, should be well located to increase the flow of customers (Ernie 1992) Since we already know who our target markets are the destination will choose tour operators which specialize in their target market and travel agencies that are located where their target market are. For instance if the destination is targeting at families they will choose a travel agent that is specialize in that market and located in area where families live. Since the destination is aiming at non- users they will have to find an operator in these countries. Promotion Promotion mix consists of four elements: advertising, personal selling, publicity and sales promotion. They are designed to create excitement and interest about the destination. These elements should communicate similar, consistent and non-conflicting messages to each of their target markets. (Ernie 1992) The aim of the destination is to increase advertising in targets market countries and in non-users countries as well. Mass media advertising and aggressive advertising will be used to send the message that Mauritius was made first and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius. This message will be sent through the use of televisions, radios, newspapers and billboards. Market research could be use here to see what image our target markets have of the destination and use it for the advertising. The destination will advertise in trade magazines to reach tour operators and travel agents. The destination will use travel agents as an intermediary for personal selling and they could also be used as a way of promoting the destination. Using sales promotion would help to achieve the objectives mentioned earlier, the destination will use price promotion, special merchandise use to promote the destination and familiarization tours for travel agents. Price promotion could be used w hen there is festival going on at the destination, such as the Independence Day, which would include discount on attractions, restaurants and hotels. Selling merchandise such as T-shirts, key chains and souvenirs will help to promote the destination by word of mouth when tourists go back to their countries, this might encourage prospective customers to visit the destination. Familiarization tours are free trips for travel agents to let them experience the tourist destination before the customers. This would be for travel agents operating in an area where there non-users of the destination, the travel agents would be able advise non-users on the destination. Promotional impact can be managed by carefully managing the four elements of the promotion mix. TALC Tourism Area life Cycle Tourism Area Life cycle a framework concept by Buttler (1980) highlights the tourism attractions and resources of a particular country. It mainly involves according to Butler (1980) a six stage evolution of tourism namely exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation and post stagnation. . Mauritius Island can be classified between a Development stage and stagnation in the TALC (buttler 1980) more people are reaching Mauritius (see tourist Arrival stats) by years, more people discover the destination, and the word spreads about its attractions and the amenities which are increased and improved ( development) with the approach of the carrying capacity* (define below next content) stagnation rise with the social and environmental limits. Buttler (1980) mentioned that a rise from Exploration to Stagnation happens very rapidly, as implied by the exponential nature of the growth curve. As this is the case for Mauritius in a rise of infrastructure, development in Technologies, improving services for quality customers. For Instance carrying capacity clearly explains the rest of the situation. Carrying Capacity Definition of carrying capacity Carrying capacity can be defined as the maximum number of people who can use a site without an unacceptable decline in the quality of experience gained by visitors (karma;2001 65) .Lime(1976) points to a substantial expansion of the meaning of carrying capacity from a focus on numbers of visitors to the entire topic of how to plan and manage a particular recreation resource . Findings in Carrying capacity Carrying capacities are usually determined for the planning area involving features of key attractions, development sites and even the tourist transit point. The carrying capacity analysis implying the institution of upper limits on development in other words, the number of tourists in terms of days, feedbacks and market forecasts, Moreover, carrying capacities can be established both for the developing as well as developed tourist destination.( Kamra;2001:68) he also argues that carrying capacity analyse most the number of tourist arrivals to the number of inhabitants in the destination area, in a result they found to be genuinely measuring the elements of socio-cultural environment and physical. More elements such as economical and infrastructure issues are to be seen as a part of the carrying capacity. A source of pollution can be a source of major problem in an environmental aspect, for example the beaches in Mauritius are well preserved by the government and by the hotels themselves, pollution (land) might affect the tourism industry, if not taken into consideration it might result to a decrease in tourist arrivals in the destination, this one major issue can be classified as being a physical more on that is the preservation of wild life animals, the animals in Mauritius Island such as the kestrel and the Mauritian Parakeet are unique in the species, preservation of those natural resources have large impacts on tourism industry. Economical benefits are mostly crucial for the government of Mauritius, as this is tourism industry is being as a major source of income, tourism industry also bring employment for the local communities for example hotel resorts have been built in the coastal areas. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT SWOT, is a tool use to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the destination. The aim of SWOT is to isolate the key environmental factors that are important to the destination. Strengths: Distinctive and exotic environment Mauritius is known for its exotic environment and its natural park. The opening up of new hotels Lately in Mauritius there a lot of new hotels opening up, this is an advantage for the island because now they accommodate more tourists than before. High purchasing power for tourists  £1 = Rs 63.6447, which means that with  £1 UK tourist could more things in Mauritius than in their country. (Anon 2006) Excellent service provided by hotels The tropical island is not also known for its physical asset but also for the high quality service provided by hotels. (Anon 2005) Weaknesses: Diseases Lately in Mauritius there has been a disease, chikunguya, which is caused by mosquito bites and because of this the number of French tourist has declined. Language Barrier Although the official language is English, not all Mauritian speak English and It is hard for tourist to communicate since most of the tourists are English speaking. Long haul flights The flights to Mauritius from Europe, America and Asian countries is a 12hr flight, which is very tiring. Opportunities: Exploit Golf tourist market It has notice that golf tourist spend a lot when they come to Mauritius, thereby Mauritius try to attract more golf tourist to maximise their revenues. Growth in Spa tourism New air routes such as flight to Russia has been open thus creating a new market and if exploited wisely could bring in more revenues for the island. Increase in the number of flight to Mauritius There are now two new airlines doing the flights to Mauritius, TUIfly Nordic and Corsairfly. (Chateau 2006) Threats: Competition Future competition from the surrounding islands might be an issue; Mauritius will have to find a way of gaining the competitive advantage over them. Tsunamis Following the tsunami that hit Indonesia in December there were some minor effects felt in Mauritius. Since that time there are still some tourists that feel it is unsafe to visit the island. (Anonb 2006) Recommendations: Mauritius Island has the best possible ability to become the pioneer in Tourism industry in the Indian Ocean , The Government of Mauritius understand very well the importance of Tourists for the Economy, the improvement of the Hotels infrastructure is to be made ( now in process 2008-2010 project) , the preservation of the wildlife park such as the rare animals and rare plants species, the introduction of a new airport also under future planning of the Government, the size of tourists arrivals is increasing with years and several discounts on Air Fares are available. 2665 words

William Shakespeares Macbeth Essay -- William Shakespeare macbeth lad

William Shakespeare's Macbeth During the Elizabethan era, the great chain of being reigned. Women were low on this chain of power, and men were on top. In fact, women were below horses; you couldn’t live without a good horse, but, you could live without a wife. Lady Macbeth was a woman before her time, she was caught between being today’s ambitious, powerful modern woman and a fragile creature of the Elizabethan era. In the first four acts of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is vicious, overly ambitious, without conscience, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. In this case, she wants to become Queen of Scotland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Whiles I stood rapt in the/ wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-/ hailed me, ‘Thane of Cawdor’; by which title, before,/ these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the/ coming on of time, with ‘Hail, King that shalt be!’/ This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest/ partner of greatness; that thou mightest not lose the/ dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness/ is promised thee. " (I v, 5-13).Because Lady Macbeth is a woman, she does not have the strength in her female frame, either in heart, body nor mind to carry out the deed of killing the King. Therefore, she calls upon the aid of the supernatural to give her male powers, so that she may have the gall to go through with the plan to murder the King, and allow Macbeth to obtain the throne. "The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/ Under my battlements. Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood,/ Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/ That no compunctious visitings of nature/ Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between/ The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,/ And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,/ Wherever in your sightless substances/ You wait on natures’s mischief! Come thick night,/ and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/ That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,/ Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,/ To cry ‘Hold, hold!’" (I v, 41-57)"Man: a human male, or human kind. Women have always been considered as the gentler and fair sex. Lady Macbeth feels that to commit this crime, she must become as cruel as she believes men are. Sh... ...and womanly nature had been worked up to a concentration and high tension which could not endure for long." (Shakespeare Criticism- Freud on the Macbeths). Lady Macbeth is a powerful character who goes from a rise to power to a fall of mental illness brought on by guilt. She was caught between two time periods, that of the Elizabethan era and modern day. Works Cited Harbrace Shakespeare. Macbeth. Ed. Margaret Kortes. Harcourt Brace: Canada, 1988.William Shakespeare Criticism- Freud on the Macbeths (from Some Character-Types Met With in Psycho-Analytical Work; 1916). <a href="http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~yisheng/notes/shakespere/mbeth_f.htm">http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~yisheng/notes/shakespere/mbeth_f.htmLady Macbeth- Character Changes Throughout the Play PlanetPapers.com. <a href="http://www.plantpapers.com/count.cgi?ID=1790">http://www.plantpapers.com/count.cgi?ID=1790The Rise and Fall of Lady Macbeth <a href="http://www.aurora.komux.norrkoping.se/oxford/litera/tim/links.htm">http://www.aurora.komux.norrkoping.se/oxford/litera/tim/links.htmMacbeth SparkNotes Online Study Guides <a href=http://www.sparknotes.com">http://www.sparknotes.com William Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay -- William Shakespeare macbeth lad William Shakespeare's Macbeth During the Elizabethan era, the great chain of being reigned. Women were low on this chain of power, and men were on top. In fact, women were below horses; you couldn’t live without a good horse, but, you could live without a wife. Lady Macbeth was a woman before her time, she was caught between being today’s ambitious, powerful modern woman and a fragile creature of the Elizabethan era. In the first four acts of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is vicious, overly ambitious, without conscience, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. In this case, she wants to become Queen of Scotland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Whiles I stood rapt in the/ wonder of it, came missives from the king, who all-/ hailed me, ‘Thane of Cawdor’; by which title, before,/ these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the/ coming on of time, with ‘Hail, King that shalt be!’/ This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest/ partner of greatness; that thou mightest not lose the/ dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness/ is promised thee. " (I v, 5-13).Because Lady Macbeth is a woman, she does not have the strength in her female frame, either in heart, body nor mind to carry out the deed of killing the King. Therefore, she calls upon the aid of the supernatural to give her male powers, so that she may have the gall to go through with the plan to murder the King, and allow Macbeth to obtain the throne. "The raven himself is hoarse/ That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/ Under my battlements. Come, you spirits/ That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full/ Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood,/ Stop up the access and passage to remorse,/ That no compunctious visitings of nature/ Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between/ The effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts,/ And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,/ Wherever in your sightless substances/ You wait on natures’s mischief! Come thick night,/ and pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/ That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,/ Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,/ To cry ‘Hold, hold!’" (I v, 41-57)"Man: a human male, or human kind. Women have always been considered as the gentler and fair sex. Lady Macbeth feels that to commit this crime, she must become as cruel as she believes men are. Sh... ...and womanly nature had been worked up to a concentration and high tension which could not endure for long." (Shakespeare Criticism- Freud on the Macbeths). Lady Macbeth is a powerful character who goes from a rise to power to a fall of mental illness brought on by guilt. She was caught between two time periods, that of the Elizabethan era and modern day. Works Cited Harbrace Shakespeare. Macbeth. Ed. Margaret Kortes. Harcourt Brace: Canada, 1988.William Shakespeare Criticism- Freud on the Macbeths (from Some Character-Types Met With in Psycho-Analytical Work; 1916). <a href="http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~yisheng/notes/shakespere/mbeth_f.htm">http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~yisheng/notes/shakespere/mbeth_f.htmLady Macbeth- Character Changes Throughout the Play PlanetPapers.com. <a href="http://www.plantpapers.com/count.cgi?ID=1790">http://www.plantpapers.com/count.cgi?ID=1790The Rise and Fall of Lady Macbeth <a href="http://www.aurora.komux.norrkoping.se/oxford/litera/tim/links.htm">http://www.aurora.komux.norrkoping.se/oxford/litera/tim/links.htmMacbeth SparkNotes Online Study Guides <a href=http://www.sparknotes.com">http://www.sparknotes.com

Frankenstein vs. The Bride of Frankenstein :: Essays Papers

Frankenstein vs. The Bride of Frankenstein In Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, sound is used as an effect to scare people and create a â€Å"spooky† feeling. They used the sounds of a storm with rain and thunder, the sound of footsteps coming up from behind people, and other noises like creaky stairs, floors, and doors. This created that â€Å"haunted† or â€Å"spooky† feeling that would be used over and over again in horror films for decades. When they used sound effects, it was to emphasize that something was either happening or about to happen. Many people consider The Bride of Frankenstein to be better than the original Frankenstein. This is because the sequel to Frankenstein had a musical score whereas the original Frankenstein never had one. The fact that the original lacked background music and the sequel had a wonderful music score is the biggest difference between the two movies when it came to sound. In The Bride of Frankenstein, music was used as a way of hinting things to the audience. Music would become faster and louder right before something big was about to happen and it would slow down and sound sweet in parts that were supposed to show the good, gentle side of the monster. The music also filled space in between scenes and made the film flow better. In The Bride of Frankenstein, there were many mise en scenes that could be easily found. For one thing, there were many religious symbols thrown in all around the movie. There were many crosses, which had been placed inside the houses. There was a good amount of talking about blasphemy and whether creating this monster was good or bad. One of the biggest issues was about how Dr. Frankenstein seemed to play the role of God. He was creating beings and bringing parts of people back to life. Also, in many scenes, they would use unique camera angles to set up a scene in a particular manner so that the audience would know that something was about to happen. For example, when Elizabeth was in her room, the camera showed the window, Elizabeth, and the reflection of the mirror as the monster began to approach her. Frankenstein vs. The Bride of Frankenstein :: Essays Papers Frankenstein vs. The Bride of Frankenstein In Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, sound is used as an effect to scare people and create a â€Å"spooky† feeling. They used the sounds of a storm with rain and thunder, the sound of footsteps coming up from behind people, and other noises like creaky stairs, floors, and doors. This created that â€Å"haunted† or â€Å"spooky† feeling that would be used over and over again in horror films for decades. When they used sound effects, it was to emphasize that something was either happening or about to happen. Many people consider The Bride of Frankenstein to be better than the original Frankenstein. This is because the sequel to Frankenstein had a musical score whereas the original Frankenstein never had one. The fact that the original lacked background music and the sequel had a wonderful music score is the biggest difference between the two movies when it came to sound. In The Bride of Frankenstein, music was used as a way of hinting things to the audience. Music would become faster and louder right before something big was about to happen and it would slow down and sound sweet in parts that were supposed to show the good, gentle side of the monster. The music also filled space in between scenes and made the film flow better. In The Bride of Frankenstein, there were many mise en scenes that could be easily found. For one thing, there were many religious symbols thrown in all around the movie. There were many crosses, which had been placed inside the houses. There was a good amount of talking about blasphemy and whether creating this monster was good or bad. One of the biggest issues was about how Dr. Frankenstein seemed to play the role of God. He was creating beings and bringing parts of people back to life. Also, in many scenes, they would use unique camera angles to set up a scene in a particular manner so that the audience would know that something was about to happen. For example, when Elizabeth was in her room, the camera showed the window, Elizabeth, and the reflection of the mirror as the monster began to approach her.

Tuberculosis :: essays research papers fc

Tuberculosis TB is a disease that can cause a serious illness and can damage a person's organs. Every year more than 25,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with TB disease. That's only a fraction of the amount of people who carry the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a rod-shaped bacterium. TB is spread through the air by carriers of the germ. People who breathe the same air can become infected with the TB germ. People who do work around or with people with the TB disease should take medicine. TB infection means that the person has the TB germs but they are in an inactive state. When TB germs enter the body, the immune system builds a wall around them. While TB germs are inactive, they cannot cause any damage. These germs can stay alive for many years in these walls and eventually break out. At this time TB is active then it becomes TB disease. It can now affect the system's organs. A person can have TB disease shortly after being infected with TB germs if the person's immune system is weak. TB can attack any part of the system. The lungs are the most common area of attack. People with the TB disease have one or more of the following symptoms: a cough that hangs on, fevers, weight loss, night sweats, constant fatigue, and loss of appetite. A person with the TB disease in the late stages will cough up blood streaked sputum. People who have Active TB disease usually only have mild symptoms. There are three tests to diagnose TB disease. One is the Tuberculin Mantoux PPD skin test; two is a Chest X-ray which is given after the Skin test is positive; three Sputum Test reveals if TB germs are in thick liquid a person coughs up. The Tuberculin Mantoux PPD skin test is given by placing a substance called PPD Tuberculin under the top layer of the skin with a very small needle and syringe. The doctor will inject the needle into the skin which will only feel like a slight pen prick. A few days later the skin test reaction will be read by a trained health worker. If the skin around the prick israised and it is bigger or the same size as a pencil eraser then the person is likely to have been infected with TB germs. This does not mean he or she has TB disease. You should always retest yourself even if the first test was negative for a few reasons. If your immune system has been weakened, then your immune system may

Media Violence Essay

Television has been considered as part of entertainment of the society. Mass media has been recognized as the giver and provider of the information needed by the public. These two terms have too many influences and greatly affects the lives of the people in the society which make them important elements in this post modern world. From gaining knowledge to entertainment, media has been having the reputation of providing all the information needed by the public. However, the society also points out the mass media as the greatest influence of aggressive behavior of the viewers. Through the movies and television shows that are being released by the media, people learn to conform and adopt the attitudes that are portrayed by the characters. The constant changing society has challenge the culture and values of the people around the world. The popular culture has been very influential making the society conform to the new trends. However, there are some factors in the society that are not changing regardless of the transparency of its effects. In other words, these are the aspects that affect the lives of the people negatively but still considered as adequate because of the acceptance of the mainstream. Media violence is one of the negative elements of the society but still existing despite the evident effects to the people. The Viewers and the Media Violence The behavior of the person shows the kind of television program he or she watches (Science Daily). Apparently, media violence does not affect only those who already understand the language and actions of a certain movie or television show. In fact, even the toddlers are being affected by these aggressive behaviors on screen. The people learn based on what they could see in their environment. Undeniably, mass media is one of the most influential factors that is present in this post modern world. The values that people adapt from their surroundings help in developing their personalities as they grow older. Since media has been the easiest tool in gaining information, it has also become an instrument to learn and adapt the culture of the society. The children that are just starting to learn in the society is being trained and influenced by the behaviors that are being portrayed in movies and television programs. Everyday, a home is being penetrated not only by thousands of advertisers that persuade every member of the family to buy a certain product. In fact, the television serves as the bridge of the people to the fictional world that are perfectly created by the mass media. Thousands of scenes from television shows and advertisements are being portrayed and most of them are adopted influencing the mind and personality of an individual. Countless murders and other acts of violence are shown making the audience feel the danger present outside their homes. The martial arts battle, shootings, knifings, fistfights, and exploding cars are just few of the scenes that can be watched on movies or television shows. These acts of violence are usually done by the heroes and villains who often serve as the role models for the young adults in the society (Freedman 4). The aggressive behaviors that the children often see on screen are committed by the live actors or even animated figures that appear in the best movies as well as the worst. On the other hand, the existence of violence in the society has not created by the media themselves. In fact violence has been in the society even before television was invented, movie houses were constructed, and video games were released. Aggression is a nature of man and it has been present even before the technology enter the scene. The public has been blaming the media for the aggression that their shows cause to the people especially to children; however, the media has been firm on telling that their aggressive shows represent the violence of the society. This issue has been at the heart of debate in the society. The presence of media relies on the elements of the society while the society relies on the information that are being offered by the mass media. Effects of Media Violence As the child becomes older, he or she is being accustomed with the information available in his or her surroundings. The internet, television shows, video games, and advertising are the sources of information of children nowadays (Wintour). The presence of media has undeniably influenced the young adults as they grow up to be mature individuals. The aggressive behaviors that they can see on television, movies, or even video games are being adapted and accepted to their own construction of reality. The child learns to hit his playmate when he gets mad, throw things when he is irritated, and shout when somebody did not pay attention to him. These are all examples of aggressive behaviors which may appear to be simple and normal attitude of a child. Oftentimes, the society fails to notice these simple behaviors as a problem that needs to be solved before it gets worse. The video games that are sold in the market with a goal to teach children to stand diversity has undeniably created an impression that it would enhance the knowledge of the young adults in technology and eliminated the idea that this would trigger the aggressive behavior of the player. The children will play as the main character that is given a task to protect a territory and kill the animated figures that would hinder him to win the game. The concept of this game sets the mind of the young players to fight with the use of guns and knives (O’Hehir) Frequently, learning to behave aggressively is the tested effect of media violence. This effect is also referred to as instigation of aggressive impulses, disinhibition of socialization against aggressive behavior and imitation of violence (Potter, 25). The child may not show an aggressive behavior after watching series of violent shows but the child would definitely think that aggression is acceptable in the society. Moreover, the child may not imitate the actions that were portrayed by the media, but the scenes may create fear to the young minds of the viewers. Since the information on media sources are the most accessible source of knowledge, the viewers may accustomed them and accept them as part of reality. Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors. Media violence produces long-term effects via several types of learning processes leading to the acquisition of lasting (and automatically accessible) aggressive scripts, interpretational schemas, and aggression-supporting beliefs about social behavior, and by reducing individuals’ normal negative emotional responses to violence (Anderson et al. 81). Apparently, mass media gives all the necessary information that the people need in order to function well in the society. The media may represent the events that often occur in the society but those should not also be the basis of the messages that are being conveyed to the audience. The real events are filmed and added with more spices to make the viewers buy what the media has prepared for them. Although aggression is long associated to human, there are still factors in the society that provoke people to behave aggressively. Mass media sells products to the public. These products do not consist only of the consumer goods that the society needs in order to survive. The television programs that are being shown to the public are products of mass media that the society willingly buys. Unquestionably, the media is an influential and powerful tool to make the society a better place; however, mass media sources have been very consistent in telling only the truth to their customers. The element of the society that should help the people to lessen the societal problems become an instrument to pass the negative aspects of the society from generation to generation. However, the people can still select the products carefully. Buying violent products is telling the media to produce more (Edgar 59). The society needs to be wiser in selecting the program that would portray less aggression and help the people to participate more on salient topic in the society rather than the fiction stories that affect negatively to the lives of the viewers. Works Cited Craig A. Anderson, Leonard Berkowitz, Edward Donnerstein, L. Rowell Huesmann, James D. Johnson, Daniel Linz, Neil M. Malamuth, Ellen Wartella. The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. USA: Association for Psychological Science. 2004. Volume 4 Issue 3 pp. 81-110 Edgar, Kathleen. Everything you need to know about media violence. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2000 Freedman, Jonathan L. Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence. Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2002 O’Hehir, Andrew. The Myth of Media Violence. March 17, 2005. Daily Newsletter. 11 March 2009. Potter, James W. On Media Violence. USA: SAGE, 1999 Rutgers University. â€Å"Media Violence Cited As ‘Critical Risk Factor’ For Aggression. † ScienceDaily 20 November 2008. 11 March 2009 . Wintour, Patrick. 5 September 2007. The Guardian. 11 March 2009

Case Study-Duraweld

1. List the 5S and compare to the lean implementation at Duraweld. If there are differences, explain them. The ‘5S’ principles which originated from Japanese terms of seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardize) and shitsuke (sustain) are used to create efficient, clean and well organised working environment. Sort – refers to ensuring that each item in a workplace is in its proper place or identified as unnecessary and removed.When â€Å"sorting† is well implemented, communication between workers is improved and product quality and productivity are increased Set in order – The second stage of 5S involves the orderly arrangement of needed items so they are easy to use and accessible for â€Å"anyone† to find. Orderliness eliminates waste in production and clerical activities. Shine – refers to a clean work area. This maintains a safer work area and problem areas are quickly identified. An important part of à ¢â‚¬Å"shining† is â€Å"Mess Prevention†. In other words, don’t allow litter, scrap, shavings, cuttings, etc. , to land on the floor in the first place.Standardized – means to formalized procedures and practices to create consistency and ensure that all steps are performed correctly. Orderliness is the core of â€Å"standardization† and is maintained by Visual Controls. Sustain – means to keep the process going through training, communication and organisation structure. This last stage of 5S is the discipline and commitment of all other stages. Without â€Å"sustaining†, the workplace can easily revert back to being dirty and chaotic. That is why it is so crucial for the workers to be empowered to improve and maintain their workplace.When employees take pride in their work and workplace it can lead to greater job satisfaction and higher productivity. Among the benefits of implementing 5S System:- * Improve safety * Decrease down time * Raise employee morale * Identify problems more quickly * Develop control through visibility * Establish convenient work practices * Increase product and process quality * Strengthen employees’ pride in their work * Promote stronger communication among staff * Empower employees to sustain their work area Duraweld applied ‘sort’ and ‘set in order’ principles by using a shadow box as proper tool storage.Storage areas for quick moving materials were set line-side. Labels were used to ensure tools were stored in proper place. These implantations have help to reduce worker’s travel time as all machines, tools, and information related to their task is set within a defined area. Duraweld ensure ‘shine’ / cleanliness is practice at the factory. Cleaning and maintenance procedures are advertised in the factory. The floors under the machines were purposely painted in white so as to ensure that spilled/oil leak can easily detected – w hich can prevent corrective maintenance. Duraweld created two-cell manufacturing units for repeat stock products.The floor was painted to define the work area, aisle space and location of necessary items. By linking the routes together, the production team managed to reduce conveyance and set-up time, build awareness of previous/next process and increase productivity. This ‘standardized’ process was further enhanced by the implementation of Kanban cards – the visual management system that incorporates scheduling and maintenance. The Kanban cards indicate what to produce, when to produce and how much to produce. These standard operating procedures has help to reduce over-production at Duraweld.Furthermore its ‘pull’ as opposed to ‘push’ system allows better regulation of intermediate stocks in the production cycle. Among the key factors which lead to successful lean implementation in Duraweld is through its ‘sustain’ processe s. The company ensures its employees from shop floor to the top managements are committed to the lean programme. Proper communication sessions via workshops, training were held to explain about the changes, how it affect them, the benefit etc. This helps to instil positive values and make everyone be part of the system – employee engagement.Duraweld has also invested in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to micromanage stock variation and seasonality. This system link operation across the organisation. The practicality of 5S principals can be seen through various implementations in Durawell as explained above. What makes the implementation of these principles throughout the organisation a big success is its employee’s engagement that makes the lean system as part of their culture in their work place and organisation as a whole. The principle aim of a 5S system is improved safety, efficiency, and employee morale.By deciding what should be kept, where it should be kept, and how it should be kept, 5S eliminates wasteful clutter and creates ownership of processes among workers. The results of 5S are both visually and economically dramatic. 2. Describe which kind of waste was eliminated for each lean implementation at Duraweld. Can you think of other types of waste that could be eliminated? Waste is defined as non-value added activity or expense that the customer is not paying for. By eliminating waste in the operations, we can reduce lead times, increase quality and decrease costs.Before we can eliminate waste from the processes, we need to be able to identify it. The following are the wastes most commonly associated with Lean. * Transportation: Is there unnecessary (non-value added) movement of parts, materials, or information between processes? * Waiting: Are people or parts, systems or facilities idle – waiting for a work cycle to be completed? * Overproduction: Are you producing sooner, faster or in greater quantities than the cu stomer is demanding? * Defects: Does the process result in anything that the customer would deem unacceptable? Inventory: Do you have any raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP) or finished goods that are not having value added to them? * Movement: How much do you move materials, people, equipment and goods within a processing step? * Extra Processing: How much extra work is performed beyond the standard required by the customer? At Duraweld, the 5S (Sort, Set to order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain) was the cornerstone that helps the organisation eliminating the waste. The first step taken by Duraweld was converting a ‘push’ manufacturing flow to a ‘pull’ process by creating a visual management system of Kanban card.The cards indicate what to process, when to process and how much to produce. Not only it reduces over-production but allows better regulation of intermediate stocks in production cycle. Only the required amount is produced in every stage. This process eliminate waste – no work was carried out unnecessarily, machine time is lesser, better utilisation of space in factory. The use of shadow boards helps to organise the essential tools. Relevant machines and tools were aggregated in cells. Floors were painted in white to assist warning of maintenance issues or detect early wear.Labelling program ensures item/tool used returned to their designated location. This helps in reducing motion of workers i. e. one of the wastes in production line whereby workers can find all machines, tools, and information related to their task is set within a defined area without having to travel around to find what they need. The preventive maintenance by ensuring early detection of wear machine or tools can reduce maintenance cost. The 3S – sort, sort in order and shine exercises as explain above also found waste from plastic cuts from the production line which can be recycled and reinserted the manufacturing cycle.The implementatio n of visual management technique and clear work area organisation ensure people were kept working which means the resources are fully utilised. This eliminates unproductivity among the workers – their movements are fully controlled not only by the supervisors but also by the workflow process/schedules. Duraweld made big investment by using an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage stock variation and seasonal stock adjustments. The system allows materials movements, stocks, and production schedules to be managed and monitored through a database in a computer.By using this technology, Duraweld can reduce its manpower cost whereby less supervisor is require to monitor the database as compared to more supervisor required to monitor each tasks if it’s done manually. Communication is the key success to sustain the lean implementation in the organisation. Clear message was sent across the board on how the changes is require to be done, the benefits an d the impact of the implementation to the workers effectively communicated. This not only gets rid of grievances among the workers which are a waste in any organisation but improve employee morale and create sense of belonging to the organisation.The tracking and elimination of waste is an on-going process. When waste is not actively sought and removed, it will continue to build in your company. 3. Considering Duraweld’s situation, explain which elements of the lean system you would further implement and what would be their positive consequences on the company. As discussed in question no. 2, one of the important elements in the lean system is eliminating the waste which in Duraweld’s case, the 5S systems are used as a tool to eliminate the wastes within its factory.On top of that the use of Kanban cards system help to increase efficiency in its production cycle by replacing the ‘push’ system with the ‘pull’ system. In my opinion, the followin g elements of Lean can be further implement at Duraweld:- 1) Visual Management: A Standard Operating Procedure and a step-by-step instruction which implemented through the visual management such as a manual board/instruction board at each workstation and machine can be used to show how each task is perform or machine is operated.When this visual management is fully utilised, not only the production flows are in order, job rotation among workers can be perform effectively – any employees can be trained to do any task or operate any machine by referring to the instruction board. This will reduce the company dependency of particular skilled workers. Everyone in the shop floor is multi-tasked. 2) Quality at the source: The quality at source require the production line to do things right the first time. This will eliminate the opportunity of waste i. e. waste of raw material, defect outputs etc. hich will help to reduce cost. At the early stage of production cycle, the workers wil l inspect, analyse and control their own work to guarantee that the goods and services passed on to the next process stage meet the specification/requirement. 3) Continuous improvement: Conventional wisdom told us â€Å"if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! † The reality of today’s business environment is that if we’re not improving our business processes and meet and exceed customers’ expectation, our business will not survive. Many organizations create change either by vision or by crisis.The latter seems to be the most prevalent. A major crisis takes place that forces a company to make an improvement. When a crisis hits, it’s because the vision or change efforts were not sufficient to avoid it. Quick fixes are then applied, and teams are formed to root out the problems. We have to take the time to step back, identify, and analyze what the real issues are, and the type of method to use. There are numerous improvement choices; Kaizen, Lea n Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TQM, Process Reengineering, Value Propositions, etc. 4) Standardized OperationsOne of the most important tools of lean manufacturing is standardized work. When starting a 5S program, the cleaning, organizing, and developing of sustainable practices is done so the elements of work can be standardized. In lean product development deployments, by developing and releasing design guidelines, we are in effect implementing standardized work for engineers. The principles of lean and flow production do not work well when everyone is allowed to choose the method or sequence in which to do the job; quality suffers, and productivity drops.This reduces throughput and the carefully developed production system develops unanticipated bottlenecks. Standardized work is a detailed, documented and visual system by which associates develop and follow a series of predefined process steps. It should be used whenever the work requires completing a series of tasks. Production wor kers, shipping departments, and warehousing teams all can benefit from implementing standardized work. References:- 1. Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Techniques. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Implementation of Lean Manufacturing Techniques | eHow. com