Budgiting db3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Budgiting db3 - Essay Example The important aspects will help finalize the budget by implementing the budget styles as well as developing alternative strategies and systems for delivering the business products. The last thing to draw is the budget. The other important aspect is obviously a report of the revenues thus expenditure of the past accounting periods in the industry (Kerzner 2003). The following are circumstances that may lead to the need of a contingent budget. An increase in the prices for raw material together with the inadequate productivity due to unused capacity causes an increase in the operating costs. The stock out costs, lead time costs, and even reduced production leads to market loss. The inadequate capital or access to capital finances calls for unexpected costs. When the firm is operating a risk appetite policy, the ascertained costs will act as the contingent budget elements as well as determine the level of contingent budget. The other instance is about labor and entrepreneurial factor inputs. When there is inadequate monitoring of the firm’s innovation and cash flow, as well as the inadequate labor, the firm unexpected costs such as labor turnover costs, high liquidity, and reduced production capacity rises. Where there is technology advancement rendering existing technology obsolete, thus replacement costs have to be incurred, especially to maintain the competitive edge in the service industry. The main costs lie on the occurrence of immobility of some factors of production. Frederic & James (1983) laid out that some contingent costs are uncertain, but occurrence can be determined statistically thus contingent budgeting The contingent budget runs on the best practices of budgeting, where thorough guidelines of budgeting form a basis for activity planning and timely reporting to responsible personnel. The budget serves contingent costs and liabilities involving the whole organization. Using modern management practices makes the manager abandon the set budgets.

Short Reflection on the Problem of Evil Essay Example for Free

Short Reflection on the Problem of Evil Essay The question of evil is a common hot button topic among atheists and non-Christians who attempt to disprove Christianity. They argue that an omnipotent and omniscient God cannot exist in a world with so much evil. The argument is used by them to try to prove that Christianity is â€Å"internally self-contradictory and thereby to be rejected.† Many claim that a benevolent and caring God would certainly not create evil or allow it to flourish in the world that He created. So, the problem of evil is how to explain that there can be a perfect, all-powerful, and all-loving God that exists in a world with so much moral and natural evil. First, natural and moral evil need to be distinguished from one another. Natural evil is defined as â€Å"evil which occurs in the process of the functioning of the natural order.† People are not responsible for these happenings; they are simply the victims and no one is to blame. The devastation that resulted from Hurricane Sandy is a perfect example of such evil, along with other problems such as cancer and earthquakes. Moral evil, on the other hand, is defined as â€Å"evil produced by activities of moral agents.† This evil stems from intentional action, such as murder, stealing, and adultery. Natural evil is part of the consequences of moral evil that resulted from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. The vast amount of evil that exists in the world is not because God created it, but because man allowed it. Man was not was not created by God with a built in evil nature; he was created with a free will that was exercised to purposefully sin. God gave Adam a choice whether to do right or wrong and he failed. The moment Adam chose to sin in the Garden of Eden the rest of the human race would be born in sin, too. God did not force this choice on Adam but allowed him to have complete free will. God is wholly benevolent and did not create evil; man brought it into the world by his sinful actions. Adam’s wrongdoing also brought condemnation the perfect world God created. Natural evils like illness and natural disasters are a direct result from the moral evil that man commits. Just as this God-given free will brought sin into the world, though, it gives us the chance to show our true love for God. He did not leaves us hopeless and abandoned when sin entered the world; He offers us a way of escape through His son Jesus Christ. There will always be evil in this world until Christ returns in glory one day. The evil that exists, both moral and natural, are not created by God but are a direct result of man abusing his free will and choosing wrongly. Bibliography Gerstner, J. H.. â€Å"Evil.† Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. E. Walter A Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001. 384-385. Print.

Animal Experiments Essay -- essays papers

Animal Experiments Animal experimentation by scientists can be cruel and unjust, but at the same time it can provide long term benefits for humanity. Animals used in research and experiments have been going on for 2,000 years and keep is going strong. It is a widely debated about topic all over the world. Some say it is inhuman while others say it’s for the good of human kind. There are many different reasons why people perform experiments and why others total disagree with it. Each year 20 million animals are produce and breed for the only purpose but to be tested on. Fifty-three thousands of animals are used each year in medical and veterinary schools. The rest is used in basic research. The demand for animals in the United States is 50 million mice, 20 million rats, and about 30 million other animals. This includes 200,000 cats and 450,000 dogs. The world uses about 200-250 million animals per year. The problem with working with animals is that they cannot communicate their feelings and reactions. Other people say that they can communicate and react to humans just a well as one person to another. Some of the animals the research’s use are not domesticated which makes them extremely hard to control and handle. The experiments that go on behind closed doors are some of the most horrific things a human could think of too torture somebody or something. Animals in labs are literally used as models and are poked at and cut open like nothing is happening. When drug a...

I-Function, Pain And Memory :: Biology Essays Research Papers

I-Function, Pain And Memory Pain is capable of leaving a long lasting effect on ones life and in ones memory. It can literally "change" who "you" are. "You" change according to the input that your nervous system receives and reacts to. Permanent changes can be seen in long-term memories with the manufacturing of new proteins stored in the memory that account for the inputs. Pain can be an extremely powerful input to the nervous system with varying effects that could lay dormant for many years, stored in long-term memory. Several questions that could be posed concerning pain and long term memory involve the I-function. Can the I-function be turned off during a painful experience, but still be stored in long-term memory, able to be recalled later such as under hypnosis? Could pain cause a separation of the I-function from the physical self or a loss of ones sense of self? Many examples of pain can be quickly imagined and recalled from long or short-term memory. Certain types of pain reside deep inside the stored memory in the brain and require a special state of consciousness to bring out those memories. Pain memories associated with various actions such as rape and circumcision have been found to exist in long term memory. These painful experiences at different stages in life are separate in the way that they are remembered and recalled, but both involve feelings later of a physical violation and mental trauma due to the lack of consent. Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin over the penis, was long thought to be a painless experience for an infant and was treated accordingly with little or no anesthesia. Most of the times during the surgical procedure, the babies cry very forcefully. This was for a long time thought to be normal and healthy. Other times, they lie still without making a sound from either shock or the act of passing out from the pain (1). This unresponsiveness was always thought to be from undeveloped pain receptors, or Nociceptors in the Somatosensory system (2) . These pain receptors send information to the spinal cord, then to the brain stem, thalamus, and somatosensory cortex. Modulation can occur through these pathways by way of suppression using large mechanosensitive fibers that enter the spinal cord or by endorphine release. This modulation involves changing the information about the pain to lessen the perception of its magnitude. I-Function, Pain And Memory :: Biology Essays Research Papers I-Function, Pain And Memory Pain is capable of leaving a long lasting effect on ones life and in ones memory. It can literally "change" who "you" are. "You" change according to the input that your nervous system receives and reacts to. Permanent changes can be seen in long-term memories with the manufacturing of new proteins stored in the memory that account for the inputs. Pain can be an extremely powerful input to the nervous system with varying effects that could lay dormant for many years, stored in long-term memory. Several questions that could be posed concerning pain and long term memory involve the I-function. Can the I-function be turned off during a painful experience, but still be stored in long-term memory, able to be recalled later such as under hypnosis? Could pain cause a separation of the I-function from the physical self or a loss of ones sense of self? Many examples of pain can be quickly imagined and recalled from long or short-term memory. Certain types of pain reside deep inside the stored memory in the brain and require a special state of consciousness to bring out those memories. Pain memories associated with various actions such as rape and circumcision have been found to exist in long term memory. These painful experiences at different stages in life are separate in the way that they are remembered and recalled, but both involve feelings later of a physical violation and mental trauma due to the lack of consent. Circumcision, the removal of the foreskin over the penis, was long thought to be a painless experience for an infant and was treated accordingly with little or no anesthesia. Most of the times during the surgical procedure, the babies cry very forcefully. This was for a long time thought to be normal and healthy. Other times, they lie still without making a sound from either shock or the act of passing out from the pain (1). This unresponsiveness was always thought to be from undeveloped pain receptors, or Nociceptors in the Somatosensory system (2) . These pain receptors send information to the spinal cord, then to the brain stem, thalamus, and somatosensory cortex. Modulation can occur through these pathways by way of suppression using large mechanosensitive fibers that enter the spinal cord or by endorphine release. This modulation involves changing the information about the pain to lessen the perception of its magnitude.

Immigration, Social Problem

Immigration, A Social problem People believe that immigration is generally a problem to the economy. Resorbing a negative abstract and a source of taking up valuable resources. The government has kept a social problem amongst the economic impact of the immigrants around us. Illegal immigrants, also known as aliens, are still being observed and noticed as racial profiling and being noticed as a minority groups still occur. One of which is the country closest to us, Mexico, whom is believed to start controversy to the US citizens as they are believed to create alliance to the Mexican drug war.Even thought there are still immigrants in this county, there are believes that the number of immigrants coming from Mexico to the United States has sharply declined. America is a country based and built by the immigrants. We are all immigrants in this country but it is true that some immigrants hurt the country but in many ways it was the immigrants that improved United States in the first place. Some immigrants are small business owners whom try to survive and live up to the American Dream.Even if some immigrants build the country there are always people who impact the social structure. Now day’s immigration has become a political factor and not observed as a human being struggling to better him or her selves from the life they used to live, these are citizens not criminals. Much of the perception about immigrants triggered by competition at the job market, and pressure on housing market are due to high numbers of in coming immigrants but not necessarily the immigrant’s government so keenly want to control.The reason why there has been valid and real concern about immigration is because of the unfettered immigration allowed by labor and the obvious failure of their policy's in the inner cities. The aspect of letting fewer immigrants in will be more manageable and easier to integrate, instead of mass immigration creating disenfranchised environment and the imm igrant populations cannot possibly make the most from being in the US at this time of low job resources.Over the year it seems that the number of the immigrants coming to the United States from Mexico has been sharply declined which could be do to the lack of jobs, higher risks of border crossing, low resources more risks and so on. Many factors are probably behind the trend but mostly its being believed that the number one thing is the lack of job in United States. It really shows how bad it has become here when people are leaving and others do not want to immigrate. Also believed that people aren’t immigrating because they can't even afford the gas, food, utilities, rent, mortgages, one in every seven Americans are on welfare.They come here for work, but people here are losing jobs everyday. In the end the solution to immigration has already occurred, which is the lack of jobs. The immigrants only want to provide better future for there children and I really don’t be lieve that we should stop them from coming over. I immigrated to this country for a better future from a country that was in a war for ten years and living in United States has given me a better percentage of survival then if I lived in any other country.

Essay on Wedding part 2

Essay on Wedding part 2 Essay on Wedding part 2 Essay on Wedding part 2Essay on Wedding part  1At the same time, the author suggests looking beyond the external look of the sisters. Dorothy West believes that the audience should not treat the main characters of her book by their look or the color of her skin. This is why her characters are aware of the fact that the look of a person is of a little importance. Dorothy West develops the idea that â€Å"beauty is but skin deep, ugly to the bone. And when beauty fades away, ugly claims its own†Ã‚  (West, 162). In such a way, the difference between sisters is determined not by their complexion or physical look but, instead, the difference is within them. The author wants to show that the sisters are two absolutely different persons with different traits of characters, different believes, views and values. This is why they are so different, although they still are sisters. The revelation of the priority of the internal world of a person over the external look is very important and is one of the main messages conveyed by the author in her book. The idea of the greater role of the inner world of the person over the physical appearance of the person opens the way to the elimination of racial biases and stereotypes. In fact, the author suggests that people should treat each other judging by their deeds and views rather than by their look or race. In such a way, Dorothy West develops the idea that people can treat sisters differently because they are just different persons. In this regard, she opens the way to the elimination of racism in the US society emphasizing that the race of a person does not matter and any person can be treated better or worse depending on the deeds and views of the person rather than on the person’s race.Furthermore, Dorothy West develops the idea that deeds of the main characters as well as other people are very important: â€Å"He had been taught that bread unshared is bread unblessed when someone else is hungry, whether man or beast, friend or stranger† (West, 178). In such a way, the author wants to persuade the audience that people should be judged by their deeds above all, whereas the race of a person is unimportant (Goldenberg 182). Sharing bread is the traditional reference to the generosity and goodness of a person and the author emphasizes that such traits of character do not depend on the race of a person. Instead, they are personal attributes entirely. People may be either supportive or not, either generous or not, and so are the sisters. This is why they are so different.At the same time, Dorothy West raises the problem of the development of social relations and the importance of the social status of sisters and their perception by their social environment. On the one hand, the author argues â€Å"how many people can play a piano? Practically anybody who has ever been a child. It is a standard parlor accomplishment†Ã‚  (West, 182). In such a way, the author shows that some peopl e view playing a piano as something which they take for granted, whereas others view it as the attribute of the higher social status because piano play implies the respective musical education of the person and her identity as well as the perception of the person by her social environment. In such a way, the socioeconomic position of sisters is very important in their self-perception as well as in their perception by their family members and other people (Goldenberg 191). Their different successes lead to their different perception and self-perception. Moreover, the social status turns out to be determinant in the perception of the person by the public. At this point, Dororthy West clearly shows that rich and prosperous people are traditionally associated with the whiteness, while poor people struggling for survival on the daily basis are traditionally associated with blackness. As a result, people can perceive the black person as a white, if the person belongs to the middle- or upp er-class.Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that Dorothy West reveals the difference between sisters showing their belongingness to the African American community but their perception and self-perception as white because of their social status and personal experience. The author attempts to show that the difference between sisters is the result of their inner differences, i.e. differences in the traits of character of sisters. At the same time, the author shows clearly that people belonging to one and the same racial group may be totally different. Therefore, she attempts to persuade the audience that people should not treat each other judging by their appearance. Instead, each person has unique identity which is not determined by the racial background of the person but by the personal experience and social environment of the person. If the person is treated as white, the person identifies herself with the white community and , on the contrary. However, Dorothy West apparently attempts to eliminate racial boundaries. This is why sisters depicted in the book are so different.

Vicente Aleixandre essays

Vicente Aleixandre essays Vicente Pio Marcelino Cirilo Aleixandre y Merlo (Vicente Aleixandre) was a Spanish poet that was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1977. Aleixandre was born in Seville, Spain on 26 April 1898. His father, Cirilo Aleixander Ballester, was a civil engineer and was said to have come from a family of prosperous artisans. His mother, Elvira Merlo Garcia de Pruneda, came from a middle class family (Galenet). Aleixandre lived in Seville until the age of eleven, and in 1909 moved with his family to Madrid Spain. After completing high school, Aleixandre went on to college at the University of Madrid. In 1919, Aleixandre graduated from the University with a degree in law and a degree in business administration. After graduation, Aleixandre became a professor at the school of Mercantile Management in Madrid, and later went on to work for Andalusian Railways at which his father had formally been an engineer (Galenet). Around the year of 1923, Aleixandre began to have serous health problems. (www.nobleprize.org) His first serious illness was infectious arthritis, and three years later he developed tuberculosis of the kidney. Homebound due to his delicate health, Aleixandre began to devote his time entirely to writing his poetry. It was during this period that his friend, Rafael Alberti, (a surrealist poet), discovered his writing ability and encouraged him to publicize his work. Aleixandres first publication of his poetry came in 1926, in the Spanish magazine, Revista de Occidente. His first book of poetry, Ambit, was published in 1928. In 1933, Destruction or Love earned him the National Literary Prize (www.nobleprize.org). During these first years, many could have viewed his writing as pessimistic. The gloomy outlook was said to have been caused by his illness and the Spanish censorship of publications (Galenet). During the 1936 to 1939 Spanish Civil War, Aleixandre lived in the Republican zone and did no...

How to Wake Up Early in The Morning to Study

How to Wake Up Early in The Morning to Study Individuals who are highly productive and successful tend to have at least one habit in common: being early risers. What’s so great about getting up early? Well, for one thing, mornings tend to have fewer distractions and therefore allow you the peace and quiet you need to knock out important tasks such as studying for classes. This is particularly beneficial for students whose waking hours tend to revolve around classes and school activities such as sports, clubs and socializing. If you can get up ahead of the pack, you’ll find that just an hour of early morning studying can have a great impact on your information retention and your GPA. Here are some easy ways for you to train yourself into getting up early to hit the books: Be Wary of Nightcaps Having a drink right before going to bed can make it all the harder for you to wake up early in the morning. You’re more likely to be tired, dehydrated and groggy if you drank right before going to sleep. Keep Away from Electronics Studies show that accessing electronic devices before bedtime can lead to insomnia or troubled sleep. So using your laptop or cell phone, checking your Facebook or text messages or watching YouTube videos right before bed can lead to a lot of tossing and turning, making it more challenging for you to rise and shine early in the morning. These activities stimulate the brain and the senses in ways that make it difficult to â€Å"disconnect† from when you close your eyes and try to sleep. Read Yourself to Sleep On the other hand, reading tends to have a calming effect on the brain and reading a book before bed can lead to deeper, more relaxing sleep Meditate Meditation can be beneficial in many different ways. In addition to enhancing concentration, it can also have a calming effect on the mind, which is perfect for those trying to develop a restful sleep routine. There are some guided meditations geared towards enhancing sleepiness which you can listen to while you drift off to sleep. Eat a Light Dinner Eating heavy meals or drinking a lot of caffeine at night or even in the afternoon can lead to sleep disturbances or difficulty drifting off to begin with. Foods that are high in fat, fast foods and sugar-laden foods can be difficult to digest, leading to indigestion or discomfort, which is the last thing you want when you’re trying to get some Zzz’s. Try to eat light in the evening and eat at least two hours before bedtime. Get Some Exercise During the Day An exercise routine, no matter if it’s only a half an hour walk, can have a great effect on the body. When the body feels tired, the brain also tends to follow suit. Expending some energy during the day can lead to better sleep at night. Set an Ambiance Some scents can help put you into a relaxed state such as lavender and vanilla. You could use some aromatherapy sprays to enhance your relaxation. Taking a warm shower, drinking some chamomile tea (which has a relaxing effect) and dimming the lights can also help signal to your body it’s time to settle in for the night. Create a Night Routine You can use a combination of these strategies to create a routine every night before you go to bed. Creating a consistent routine will help you sleep better on a regular basis and allow you to get the hours of sleep you need to wake up early in the morning. Create a Morning Routine A morning routine is just as important as a night routine. Maybe you want to drink a cup of tea or coffee first thing in the morning before cracking the books open or do five minutes of meditation before beginning your day. Whatever you need to get yourself into the studying groove. Hope these tips help you get a good night’s rest so you can tackle your studies early each morning! image credit: flickr.com

Medical Genetic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Medical Genetic - Essay Example 4. Giving the allele symbol M (dominant allele), m (recessive allele) the proband genotype is MM and the husband’s genotype is mm. If II: 2 is heterozygous, her genotype will be Mm. III: 1 will be heterozygous or homozygous with equal possibilities. This because the genes cross and combines to produce a child that has a genotype of either Mm, Mm, mm or mm as shown in table 1. 7. It is not possible because II.12 has a possibility 75% possibility of having a healthy girl and 25% of having the one with the trait. The genotypes of the III.12 daughter either are Mm, mm, mm, or mm. 10. Yes, gene mutation leads to ether deletions or insertions caused by the uncertainties during the chromosomal crossover due to meiosis. This causes misalignment of homologous chromosomes leading to a different structure of the DNA. 3. The frequency of homozygous and heterozygous gametes expected from II.2 is computed using Punnett table 3 with the information on the pedigree. Consequently, the two genotypes have equal frequency of occurrence of 50%. 5. Typically, it is a Mendelian inheritance. This is because offspring with a dominant allele from either of the parents has the trait, and dominant allele dominates the recessive allele. The pedigree indicates phenotypic traits that show co-dominance of the dominant allele. vii) Assuming No. of full linkage recombinant in the family, according to the pedigree=3. The no. of total progeny is 9 but one is exceptional hence the no. on non-recombinant offspring is 8. Consequently, probability of observing children of II.2 genotype is given by 0/2=infinity. Parental probability =hence linkage genotype probability (very small), which is the probability of sequence with linkage ()=0 viii) In independent linkage, the probability multiplies for each linkage probability is given by  ¼ (0.25) because all four possible genotypes are equally probable.

Nevertheless Botticelli as a True Renaissance Master Research Paper

Nevertheless Botticelli as a True Renaissance Master - Research Paper Example Born in Florence, Botticelli owes much of his style to Fra Filippo Lippi to whom he was apprenticed as a child. â€Å"Lippo Lippi’s synthesis of the new control of three-dimensional forms, tender expressiveness in face and gesture, and decorative details inherited from the late Gothic style were the strongest influences on Botticelli†. The composition of the painting is also worth noting for it draws the viewer to the background which depicts a tranquil pastoral landscape. Similar compositions are to be found in many of Botticelli’s paintings, including those mentioned earlier, and is perhaps an allusion to ‘mother nature’ and ‘neo-platonism’, the fusion of pagan and Christian themes which tried to â€Å"reconcile classical and Christian views†(Sandro Botticelli [2}, by combining â€Å"Christian faith with ancient mythology, rather than merely relating them† (Sandro Botticelli [3]). This painting thus is Botticelli’s contribution to Renaissance art, based on â€Å"myth and partly inspired by contemporary poetry and literature† and on his interpretation of Greek and Roman mythology (Portrait of the Artist Sandro Botticelli). The fusion of these two aspects is one of the most special characteristics of Botticelli's work. Overall, the subject matter, composition, and fine detail and colour make this work of art truly timeless. In his time, Botticelli was the acknowledged authority of line who brought the linear tradition to its pinnacle, soon to be replaced by the high classical style of Leonardo da Vinci. Nevertheless, Botticelli is still recalled for his works and for being a true Renaissance master.

Marketing Channels and Logistics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Channels and Logistics - Case Study Example Apart from being technologically uperior to the exiting American car in the egment and on par with the Japanee verion, it wa deigned to offer the amenitie and tyling of an expenive car at a lower price. The built-in value propoition would be value a perceived by it buyer. The timing of aturn' launch alo gave it a fillip, a the economy wa coming out of a receion, when 'value' wa conidered to be everything by the American conumer and the need for an all-American car to be pitted againt foreign make, epecially the Japanee wa widely felt. (Barabba, 2004, 55-109) aturn laid the mot tre on cutomer atifaction. They focued on the cutomer a an individual and their relationhip with their car. The retailer were aked to let the cutomer pend time alone with their car. They made ure that their franchiee were excluive aturn dealer and the howroom were built to pecification provided by the company. Thi enabled the cutomer enjoy the "experience" of buying a car and trike an immediate rapport with the dealer. Their pot-ale ervice experience wa alo a key factor. They developed a feeling of "family" between owner, dealer, and the company. (Barabba, 2004, 55-109) ince the early 1980', General Motor' ale hare in the U.. ... A part of their partnerhip approach GM drew the entire company together - management, worker, dealer and union- and created a 'college' tyle, flat working environment forming the Group of 99 which wa reponible for developing the manufacturing proce and the product of the aturn Corporation. Thi approach gave the labor union a better ay at aturn than they had previouly at General Motor. Thi tructure, rather the lack of it helped build a unique brand identity becaue all the key player became engineer of the brand and thi involvement and enthuiam wa tranferred to the cutomer. (Barabba, 2004, 55-109) The GM Company made ue of the new partnerhip agreement to reet union guideline and reduce the price of the final product, a the additional labor cot were not tranferred to the conumer a with the old guideline. The aturn worker' profit haring wa tied to performance of the aturn Company only. Thi increaed the ownerhip and ene of belonging greatly. Initially GM ued an organizational tructure with independent department. Each department worked independently and toed the idea 'over the wall' to the next department. Thi lowed down the entire proce and extended the time needed to develop new product. tringent time contraint for aturn meant that uch a tructure would be diatrou. (Barabba, 2004, 55-109) To over come thi, concurrent engineering wa ued in the development of aturn. Thi involved multifunctional team which meant there wa greater undertanding of the problem and alo problem olving wa fater. A upply chain i a network of facilitie and ditribution option that perform the function of procurement of material, tranformation of thee material into intermediate and finihed product, and the ditribution of thee finihed product to cutomer. upply chain exit

Community College Perception Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Community College Perception Paper - Essay Example This allows them at least 2 years before they finally have to decide upon what direction they truly want to take in college. Aside from undecided students, community college also works well for those students who can only afford to study on a part time basis due to financial constraints. Sources indicate that students who do not have an impressive GPA can also benefit from attending a community college as these schools normally have to accept everybody who enrolls. They have some criteria that students must meet in order to enroll but these are not as rigid as those in a regular college. In fact, some community college students use the opportunity to increase their GPAs to an impressive level before applying at the 4 year university of their choice. Finally, a student may opt for a community college degree when he is interested in pursuing a career that may not necessarily require the completion of a 4 year course (Chen Grace â€Å"What is a Community College?). There is a misconception that the quality of education at a community college is substandard and anybody can enroll and pass without a problem. Hence the reason why community college students are often thought of as slackers and the schools as diploma mills. The quality of education at a community college is actually comparable to that of a regular college. The students must still do the work in order to make the grade and pass his classes. There is a reason behind the standard of education at a community college. Most of their graduates have a tendency to continue to a 4 year degree course at any of the regular colleges that have an â€Å"Academic Passport Program† agreement with the community college. Keeping the above information in mind, the reason behind the mission and purpose of a community college is very clear. Theirs is a college system that is open to admission of anyone who wishes to earn a college degree but

Market failure and what government can do Essay

Market failure and what government can do - Essay Example Market failure is the failure of the market to yield efficient outcomes. Elaborating further, Stiglitz said that there are six situations in which markets are not efficient and these are referred to as market failures that provide a rationale for government activity.The six conditions in which markets fail to lead to efficient outcomes are those in which competition fails, situation in which public goods are involved, market situations in which there are externalities, situations in which markets are incomplete, situations in which information is imperfect, and situations in which there are macroeconomic disturbances (Stiglitz 2000, p. 77-85). For markets to lead to efficiency, markets must be perfectly competitive (Stiglitz 2000, p. 77). This means that there are no constraints for competition to prevail in the market. Examples of situations in which competition does not prevail are those involving monopolies and oligopolies. Monopolies are market situations in which there is only o ne seller while oligopolies are market situations in which there are only few sellers. Both monopolies and oligopolies can charge consumers prices that are higher than those which can prevail in perfectly competitive market settings.1 Public goods are those whose consumption is non-rival and non-excludable as opposed to private goods whose consumption are rival and excludable. Non-rival means consuming the good will not deprive others of the good. Road services or city lighting services, for example, are goods or services that are not deprived to others when an individual consume or use the good or service. They are also non-excludable in consumption because it is costly, feasible, or impractical to exclude others from consuming or using the good or service. In the literature of economics, economists usually use the term pure private goods and pure public goods to refer to pure cases but they recognize that there are goods in-between or public goods that have private goods character istics as well as private goods that have public goods characteristics. Sometimes, these goods are also referred to as mixed goods.2 Externalities refer to effects on third parties other than the consumer or producer of the product. For example, consumer may use gasoline but parties other than the producer or consumer of the product receive the pollution. Externalities can be positive or something good such as the benefits to the environments of a certain car that does not use fossil fuel or it can be negative like that in car that pollutes the environment. Economic literature holds that when markets are competitive, prices almost equals costs and goods are produced at costs. However, because of externalities, markets can lead to situations in which goods may be overproduced or under-produced, depending on their effects to society.3 Incomplete markets refer to situations in which although the cost of providing the good is less than what consumers are willing to pay, the good is not produced just the same (Stiglitz 2000, p. 81). The situation of incomplete markets implies that there are things missing in the market because otherwise the good or service would have been produced if there is nothing that is missing in the market (Stiglitz 2000, p. 81). Incomplete markets can emerge when complementary services are lacking, transaction costs are too high, and the like (Stiglitz 2000, p. 81-82). It is possible that incomplete markets are one of the least studied market situation in the academic literature. The literature on the topic does not seem many. Information asymmetry or imperfection in information is also another cause for market failure to happen. For example, borrowers can know their risks as borrowers but lenders may not know the risks of lending to the borrowers. In another scenario, investors want to invest but they do not know the potential returns and possible risks in investments and, thus, they are constrained from investing. Finally, many scholars i nterpret

Community College Perception Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Community College Perception Paper - Essay Example This allows them at least 2 years before they finally have to decide upon what direction they truly want to take in college. Aside from undecided students, community college also works well for those students who can only afford to study on a part time basis due to financial constraints. Sources indicate that students who do not have an impressive GPA can also benefit from attending a community college as these schools normally have to accept everybody who enrolls. They have some criteria that students must meet in order to enroll but these are not as rigid as those in a regular college. In fact, some community college students use the opportunity to increase their GPAs to an impressive level before applying at the 4 year university of their choice. Finally, a student may opt for a community college degree when he is interested in pursuing a career that may not necessarily require the completion of a 4 year course (Chen Grace â€Å"What is a Community College?). There is a misconception that the quality of education at a community college is substandard and anybody can enroll and pass without a problem. Hence the reason why community college students are often thought of as slackers and the schools as diploma mills. The quality of education at a community college is actually comparable to that of a regular college. The students must still do the work in order to make the grade and pass his classes. There is a reason behind the standard of education at a community college. Most of their graduates have a tendency to continue to a 4 year degree course at any of the regular colleges that have an â€Å"Academic Passport Program† agreement with the community college. Keeping the above information in mind, the reason behind the mission and purpose of a community college is very clear. Theirs is a college system that is open to admission of anyone who wishes to earn a college degree but

Energy Conversion and Integrated Solid Waste Management Essay

Energy Conversion and Integrated Solid Waste Management - Essay Example Nonetheless, the resultant combustion ash leads to concentration of inorganic hazardous materials in the refuse. Additionally, refuse combustion could yield other chemicals that could be toxic. The remaining 10% of waste has to be disposed off, mostly landfilled. The Integrated Solid Waste Management, ISMW, is a national solid waste management strategy developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA to assist local communities in making decisions that promote the most environmentally acceptable strategies. This gives a list of five, starting from the most desirable to the least desirable strategy. The first strategy is to reduce the quantity of waste generated from the source to minimize the effect on energy reserves and natural resources. The next most desirable strategy is to reuse materials. After implementing the first two, materials would then be recycled and recovered. Then, combustion, including all treatment methods, follows. Finally, after implementing all the four strategies, the remaining refuse would be landfilled. Engineering helps in balancing community needs when implementing the ISWM strategy to avoid any problems. This strategy has led to the dramatic growth of recycling in the past 20 years, Worrell and Vesilind (2 012) documenting a growth from 10% recycling in 1989 to 59% in 2008 in California and 16% in 1990 to 33% in 2008

Britannia Airways and Virgin Upper Essay Example for Free

Britannia Airways and Virgin Upper Essay Ill start by reporting on the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class suite website. To start with you are prompted to select what country you live in. This is so the person who enters the website can get it in the relevant language. To start with, you get to click on the different things on the plane, and a menu appears in this you get to select which item you want to read about. On the navigation menu on the top of the page, if you click on the box saying Experience you are able to have a virtual tour of the different features of the plane. On this page there are 3 sub-menus. These are Reaction this is reports on what other professional plane experts have said about it, the second one is Have your say this is obviously where the explorers of the sight can leave their feelings and their views about the site, and lastly there is Response this is where the members of Virgin Airways Flying Club have written what they think of it and what they would do to improve it. The next section on the navigation bar is The Facts. This is all about the design, and how they came up with it, how it compares to other aeroplanes, the essential facts, and all questions answered. This helps people to get a good feel for the aeroplane and its features before they consider booking a flight on the newly designed Upper Class plane. If you have already booked a flight, you can check details on the Internet if you enter you departure City and arrival city. You can do this under the Routes section. There is an Offers section, but at the time of producing this report an offer had just finished, but another one was yet to start. If you go onto the Competitions button on the navigation bar, you can do a quiz about the new aeroplane and if you answer them all correctly you can win a pair of tickets to New York on a Virgin Upper Class plane. The next icon is called Loyalty Programme in this area you can sign up to become a member of the Virgin Flying Club. There is also a section called E-Cards where you can send them to your friends, to show them how beautiful the new Upper Class Plane is. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page them you can select Book a Flight. This was unavailable when I went on there, but it was only because the site is quite new and they are just putting on the program that will aid with online flight bookings. The pages are easily navigable, and user friendly, even for those who are only beginners with computers. There are loads of pictures, and the background to the site is black and dark purple; the writing is red and white. It looks very eye catching, and would make you want to go back to the site again. They currently only go to New York, Los Angeles and a couple of other places, but the places in America they fly to is going to increase as the new improved plane flies more, and more are obviously made. You get a T. V, a bed in which they will give you bedding on request, refreshments and food available when you request them, video playing facility, and much, much more! I am now going to review the Britannia Airways website. When you first go onto the website you are greeted by a bright blue screen, with the word Britannica in red letters on the top left corner. There are also 2 blocks of three colours on the page. There is a picture in the middle, which changes to give you different views of the aeroplane. If you scroll down, after this there is a booking form for booking a flight. I decided to fill this in; however the airport I fly from most frequently was not on the list. (London Heathrow) I filled in the rest of the details. However, it was not easy as it would not let me enter the data quickly, it was slow. Then it too quite a while to search the records and find what I had requested. Then I realised a new page had appeared and asked me to re-enter the data. I got annoyed!! On this one it had London Heathrow but only had 4 destinations that were flown to from there. I got annoyed and left it. I clicked on the icon called Pre-Bookable Options here you could choose to order Champagne, go into the VIP lounge, special meals, extra leg room or get Executive Check-In. However, when I clicked on them no estimated prices for these services were given. This was not good, as if you were a family on a budget then you would not really want to phone up and ask as they might push you into getting a service that you cant afford. There is a bit called In-flight Shopping this is what is available when they go along the plane with the trolley. They have a Check in and Advice icon, where it tells people who maybe have never flown with Britannia before, or those who are not familiar with airports the process to undertake, before during and after you are in the airport. They have many different planes all with different seat capacities. The seat capacities are as follows: 757-200 235seats 767-200 274seats 767-200 290seats 767-300 315seats 767-300 328seats The i 10. 00 charge is for Select your Seat only and must be booked in conjunction with seats together, extra or premium seating. Combined price from i 20. 00 return per adult (from i 27. 00 return per adult long haul) and from i 15. 00 return per child (from i 20. 00 return per child long haul). The price varies dependent on your choice of seating combination and the length of the flight. It also has a section called Can I Take it this includes what size your allowed for hand luggage, and how much your luggage should weigh. This is very interesting. There is also a lot more relevant information. There are not many pictures. It is quite easy to navigate. The flight destinations are mainly in Europe. Food is available on longer flights. After carefully studying both websites, I prefer the Virgin Upper Class website for the design, interesting features and layout. However I would choose the Britannia website for the most relevant information. If Virgin put some interesting features on their website, and Britannia put some more pictures, and so different colours apart from Blue, then I would give them both 10 out of 10. as it stands I would give Virgin 9 and Britannia 8 1/2 as it is not that far behind, but at the end of the day the Virgin website is designed for business personnel and the Britannia website is designed for families. So both I think are good for the audience they are aimed upon.

Types of tourism

Types of tourism P1–Describe the travel and tourism component industries and provide examples of domestic, inbound and outbound organisations within them. Inbound Tourism: Tourists (non-residents) coming into a country e.g. The French coming into the UK. Outbound Tourism: People leaving their country for another country e.g. Russians going over to China. Domestic Tourism: Residents of one country travelling within it e.g. New Yorker travels to Los Angeles. Accommodation: Its the place you stay at for your holiday or tour; accommodations can be both serviced and non-serviced, serviced is when the room or place youre going to stay at is fully furnished and provided with cooking facilities, fresh meals, modern technology such as a flat screen TV and internet (Wi-Fi). For instance the Hilton hotels has its network in 78 countries across 6 continents[1]. The Hilton hotels are highly branded, stylish with excellent services, having over 92 years of experience proving their professionalism. Even the guest room itself has an original design which is well organised and undoubtedly accommodating. Thus inbound and outbound tourism would use serviced accommodation. On the other hand, non-serviced means only the accommodation itself is provided; the Sykes cottages organisation has over 5,000 cottages across the UK and Ireland. Nearly three decades of experience[2] indicates the companys efficiency and credibility. Therefore non-serviced accommodation would be use d for domestic tourism. Transport Provision: Irrespective of your destination, transport will be essential to get there; regardless of its form whether its by air, rail, road or sea. To get to and from your destination and around to explore the area coach or car travel is recommended. Coach travel are offering low cost prices if the tickets are booked in advance. Megabus offers prices as low as  £1. National Express is one of the largest coach companies that travel to more than 900 destinations across the UK[3]. Over the last 50 years, car travel has grown rapidly and it is by far the most popular type of transport used by the tourists in Britain. There are a variety of different worldwide companies, such as Avis that specialise in private car hire. Therefore both coach and car travel is suitable for domestic tourism. Rail travel is a more environmentally friendly mode of travelling. Virgin trains is a very popular train company that is popular with the tourists. Virgin trains have been around for over 15 years[4] therefore t hey are one of the most experienced train companies around Britain. Virgin trains travel all over the country. Thus rail travel being used for domestic tourism too. When travelling by sea, its usually by ferries or cruising. Ferry companies operate services between the UK and Ireland, France, Belgium and a few other destinations. For example PO Ferries, Irish Ferries and Stenaline. Since the Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994, ferry services have fallen dramatically[5]. However, cruising is also a type of travel using the sea and it is growing steadily and it is attracting lots off different types of tourists. In the past, cruising was seen more for the rich, famous and the elderly but cruising today, it is attracting families, young people and groups of people. Royal Caribbean Cruises is an example of a cruise service. This company holds the largest cruise ship ever built[6]. Sea travel would be used for all three types of tourism; inbound, outbound and domestic. Air travel is the most popular type of travel used all over the world. This includes; scheduled–planes that operate to a published timetable. These planes have to follow routes and they are under government licence e.g. British Airways or the low-costs such as Ryanair. Tickets purchased from the companys website, operating year round[7]. Charter–an airline ticket for a charter flight will be purchased from a tour operator. In this way, charter flights differ from scheduled flights, generally operate only during the summer months (May to October) or November to April for ski flights. Tour operators who put holiday packages together will charter or lease an aircraft from an airline such as Monarch or Thompson. Air travel is to be considered mostly for inbound and outbound tourism. Ancillary Services: Ancillary services are all the extras that come along side a holiday that tourists may need. These are things such as; travel insurance, foreign exchange, airport parking, car hire, luggage check-in, tour guiding, equipment hire, passport and visa services. Without Ancillary Services the holiday wouldnt be complete. Many Travel Agents offer ancillaries to their clients and they make good commission on these products and services. Eurochange is the foreign exchange expert within the UK, which will allow tourists to exchange their currency with outstanding rates, one of the best foreign exchange companies in the UK such as The Money Shop. Therefore making their holiday alot cheaper; suits the inbound and outbound tourism. Tour Operators: A Mass Market tour operator are companies such as Thomas Cook and Thomson who deal with any type of holiday and they are able to arrange packages that suit the customers. A mass market tour operator also supplies their customers with accommodation, transfers, transport and extra services. Specialist operators are businesses such as Cox and Kings. These type of tour operators are a lot more personal to the customer. This is because these tour operators are able to cater and specialise to what the tourists interest are for example, someone wants to go on a cycling holiday, they can tell the operator what they want in their holiday and the operators can do their best to satisfy the customers needs. Attractions: The tourist boards have estimated that there are around 6,400 tourist attractions in the UK. In the travel and tourism sector, attractions are vital as they are what attracts all the tourists from around the world. The Lake District is one of the popular natural attractions in the UK[8], a natural attraction is an attraction that has been created by nature. Many of these areas have been given a status to protect their environment and provide facilities so that the public can enjoy the sights. There are attractions such as caves, waterfalls, seashores and any other scenic view interest that havent been created by mankind. Attractions that are old and have been in place for many years and are now historical–heritage attractions. These are attractions such as canals, railways, battlefields. These attractions are in place so that people can gain an appreciation of the past. The Stone Henge is a popular hertiage attraction owned by English Heritage and is Located in Wiltshire. Purpose-built attractions–attractions that have been built purposely to attract tourist into that area. When people hear the term tourist attraction it makes people think automatically about the purpose-built attractions that are fun and enjoyable and designed for many different reasons. In the UK there are many purpose-built tourist attractions like Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Buckingham Palace and Alton Towers. Events–attractions that attracts tourists to the area. These are small events like the Blackpool Illuminations or huge events like the Olympics and the Paralympics. Events play a significant part in the tourist attractions because in different parts of the country, some places cant offer a large amount of natural or purpose-built attractions therefore the events may be the only reason people visit that certain area. Also Events bring in a lot of income which creates jobs and wealth in the area. Tourism development and Promotion: Tourist boards play an important role by helping destinations and co-ordinating the work of tourism businesses. Tourist boards get their money from the government (National and Local) and it is said to operate in the public sector. Public sector bodies play an important role in Travel and Tourism the UK, because they promote tourism and attract domestic and inbound tourists to the UK this in return will create income and jobs for local business and have a positive effect on the GDP. Tourist boards are websites such as Visit Bolton, Visit England etc. These websites show people who are visiting that area what is happening during the period of time they are there and when and where the events and occasions are taking place. These websites give you information locally, nationally and regionally. National–either a day trip of for a short break away. For example, the Visit Scotland website has information about the events that are taking place in Scotland and it also has their time and place that it is taking place. The national websites are usually available in a variety of different languages which means they are accessible for visitors from overseas who want to find out information about the UK. Local–local destinations such as the Visit Bolton website. This website provides information such as train and bus times, events, accommodation around Bolton and also in Bolton there would be a Tourist Information Centre that would help out the tourists. Finally, Regional–websites such as Visit Englands North West. This would be helpful for people who are overseas and they want to come and visit an area like the North West of England, it would give them information about what happens around this area and what type of activities and events are held in the Lake District. Trade associations and Regulatory bodies: A trade association is an organisation which works in the shared interests for either a particular industry or the customers in general; the difference between ATOL and ABTA is that they both exist for different kinds of operators. ATOL stands for Air Tour Operators Licence. ATOL is managed by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and it is for the tour operators selling flights. ABTA stands for Association of British Travel Agents. ABTA is for the tour operators who aren’t involved with selling flights[9]. AITO is another association. This stands for Association of Independent Tour Operators. AITO was set up for the smaller travel companies[10]. These companies are in place just in case anything goes wrong whilst you are on holiday, all your money is protected. Also if any of the companies go bust whilst you are away, you will be refunded and brought home by the relevant organisation. If a tourist books a holiday through a company which is a member of AITO or bonded by ABTA they can be sure that the company is reliable and if the company should suffer from financial problems they will be protected. The traveller would be brought home from their holiday if the company failed whilst they were away. Travel Agents: Retail travel agent–advise people when they are travelling, about different hotels around the area they are travelling to and about the weather conditions and the different currency exchange. Business travel agent–travel services for companies, they focus mostly on short notice trips where the timing of the flight is alot more important than the price of the flight for the tourist. Call Centre travel agent–sells products over the phone and every day they have to reach a certain number of sales they make per day. Web Based travel agent–sells holidays over the internet. An example of these websites would be Expedia. This website allows you to create your own holiday trip and also looks at hotels and other extras that you might want with your holiday. [1] Hilton Hotels | http://www3.hilton.com/en/about/locations/index.html [2] Sykes Cottages | http://www.sykescottages.co.uk/history-of-sykes-cottages.html [3] National Express | http://www.nationalexpress.com/wherewego/index.aspx [4] Virgin trains | http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/about/ [5] Opening of Channel Tunnel causes ferry services to drop | http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21602261-why-sea-passenger-market-may-finally-collapse-set-adrift [6] Allure of the Seas largest cruise ship | http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=530 [7] Ryanair operating year round | http://corporate.ryanair.com/ [8] Natural Attractions | http://www.you2uk.com/natural-attractions.html | [9] ABTA | http://www.abta.com/ [10] AITO | http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=27

The Importance of Dialect and Names in Kate Chopins The Storm :: Chopin Storm Essays

The Importance of Dialect and Names in The Storm    Kate Chopin is able to put life into her characters in her short story The Storm because she has lived a life similar to that of the people in it.   She was raised by her French Creole mother, which explains her ties to Creole in her story.   She married a wealth New Orleans cotton broker and in 1888 he died.   She was left with no money and six children so she turned to writing as a means to raise them.   The characters in her story depict life in the Cajun area of America and it shows in the nature of their ways.   She does this by giving them real characteristics that can make them seem more real.   Among these characteristics are their names and their dialect.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Chopin's use of Creole names in her story allows the reader to get a glimpse into the life of those living in French Creole areas.   Names such as Bibi and Bobinot aren t common names to most living in other parts of the country.   Because of this, readers are given a chance to read the story believing the characters to be real.   Had their names been common such at John or Eric, the story would become unreal in the sense that it would be difficult for Chopin to make the reader believe that the story takes place in a Cajun-like surrounding.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, other names in the story serve as a piece of the story setting as well.   Bibi s wife Calixta is a good example of this as is Calixta s man friend Alcee Laballiere.   Their names alone give you a sense that the story isn t set in just any area.   Though Chopin doesn t ever say where the setting of the story is, but something insignificant like the names can be used to help the reader make his or her own assumptions.   I got the sense that it was set in a Cajun area of the United States due to the French names.   Bobinot and Laballiere are unmistakably French in nature and due to the fact that Cajun areas are heavily influenced by French, Chopin made a setting without ever having to actually say it.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way Chopin sets the mood of the story and makes it feel more believable is by giving her characters a Cajun slang in their conversations. The Importance of Dialect and Names in Kate Chopin's The Storm :: Chopin Storm Essays The Importance of Dialect and Names in The Storm    Kate Chopin is able to put life into her characters in her short story The Storm because she has lived a life similar to that of the people in it.   She was raised by her French Creole mother, which explains her ties to Creole in her story.   She married a wealth New Orleans cotton broker and in 1888 he died.   She was left with no money and six children so she turned to writing as a means to raise them.   The characters in her story depict life in the Cajun area of America and it shows in the nature of their ways.   She does this by giving them real characteristics that can make them seem more real.   Among these characteristics are their names and their dialect.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Chopin's use of Creole names in her story allows the reader to get a glimpse into the life of those living in French Creole areas.   Names such as Bibi and Bobinot aren t common names to most living in other parts of the country.   Because of this, readers are given a chance to read the story believing the characters to be real.   Had their names been common such at John or Eric, the story would become unreal in the sense that it would be difficult for Chopin to make the reader believe that the story takes place in a Cajun-like surrounding.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, other names in the story serve as a piece of the story setting as well.   Bibi s wife Calixta is a good example of this as is Calixta s man friend Alcee Laballiere.   Their names alone give you a sense that the story isn t set in just any area.   Though Chopin doesn t ever say where the setting of the story is, but something insignificant like the names can be used to help the reader make his or her own assumptions.   I got the sense that it was set in a Cajun area of the United States due to the French names.   Bobinot and Laballiere are unmistakably French in nature and due to the fact that Cajun areas are heavily influenced by French, Chopin made a setting without ever having to actually say it.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Another way Chopin sets the mood of the story and makes it feel more believable is by giving her characters a Cajun slang in their conversations.

Iago as the Hero of Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Iago as the Hero of Othello Roderigo, a soldier in Othello's army, is in love with Desdemona and is deceived by Iago into thinking that Desdemona holds some affection for him. Iago, who is Othello's "ancient" or his counselor, desires to hold Othello's position and so tries to devise a plan to become general. As proved by the outcome of the play, Othello was too naive and kindhearted to properly lead an army. Iago felt that he should have been promoted to be Othello's lieutenant but Cassio was promoted instead. The outcome of the play also proves that Iago was more efficient in achieving his goals. Iago's plan is one that involves Cassio, Othello's second in command, Roderigo and Desdemona. Iago is better qualified than either Cassio or Othello if he devised such a plan without either of them noticing. The same strategies he uses in everyday life he would be able to employ in battles. Iago has proven to be the ultimate soldier. Iago instills jealousy in both Roderigo and Othello by leading each of them to think that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. He accomplishes all this without being discovered until the end. During the course of the play, Othello is further deceived by Iago to believe that Desdemona is unfaithful to him. Emilia, Iago's wife, unknowingly helps Iago fool Othello when she gives her husband the handkerchief that was given to Desdemona by Othello on their wedding night. Desdemona always keeps this by her side, as a result of Othello's command. When Iago tells Othello that he has seen Cassio with his gift to Desdemona, Othello becomes enraged and vows to kill her. He also makes Iago swear that he will kill Cassio. Through Iago's planning, Roderigo gets a chance to kill Cassio but fails. When Iago sees Roderigo's failure to carry through with the plan, he wounds Cassio in the leg and kills Roderigo. When Othello hears commotion in the streets below he thinks that Cassio is dead and smothers Desdemona. When Cassio, Gratiano (relative to Brabantio), Montano (Cyprus official), and Iago hear Emilia's screams from Othello's bedroom they discover what he has done. Iago is revealed as the culprit and he then kills Emilia. After this Othello commits suicide and Iago is taken away to be punished. Iago was seeking a revenge that can be justified because he felt that Othello had had an affair with Emilia.

Operation Strategy(Dell, Amazon.Com & Ibm) Essay

Question: Discuss operations strategies of three companies. Answer: Operational Strategy: Amazon.com Introduction: Amazon.com has become the largest customer friendly online retailer and provides one click purchase facility to its wide range of products including books, music, toys, gifts, electronics etc. For 2011 Amazon’s net sales documented the value of $48077 million to earn net income of $631 million (Annual Report, 2011). Currently, Amazon is serving more than 137 million of its customers with its 56200 employees all over the world. Moreover, International traffic also ranks Amazon at 16th position. However, Amazon achieved this milestone through deploying its three fold strategy of limitless inventory, customer convenience and low price. The purpose of current study is also to explore that how Amazon achieved its objective by using its digital channel. 1. Mass Customization: Primary difference between a physical retailer and Amazon is its online operations that allow Amazon to adopt mass customization. Amazon.com provides an opportunity to offer huge collection of books, music or other products without keeping them physically on shelf. Millions of books are available at Amazon for purchase while a large brick and mortar store is required to keep such huge inventory. In 1999 Amazon consistently added new product line or capabilities after every six weeks to increase its sale revenue. Currently, its product range can be divided into 34 broad categories. Such product customization differentiates Amazon with its competitors. It is argued that product customization is a critical source of competitive advantage even as compared to price competitiveness as it allows customers to select products according to their needs and wants at one place. So, one can attribute such mass customization to the success of Amazon.com. 1.1 Amazon Operating Models: However, to provide such mass customization Amazon follows its three  operating models. First, it sells its own inventories and manages customer relation and supply chain on its own through Amazon.com. Second, Amazon also act as third person and allow other companies to place their products at Amazon.com for sale. However, Amazon only manages front end customer relations while logistic issues are controlled by sellers. In 1999 Amazon offered Z shop facility that allows small companies to sell their product through Amazon.com. His strategy was to compete with e-bay who was also providing similar services of auction. At last Amazon has also introduced its e-commerce solutions and design web sites and offer hosting services to its customers. In other words these three operating models provide huge collection of products that is consistent to its business strategy limitless inventor y. 2. Integrated Business Operations: Success of Amazon strategies lay within its integrated business operations. Figure 1 illustrates that how Amazon fulfill its customers order through integrating its operations. Amazon.com server uses the supply chain optimization software to predict demand and also optimize its supply chain. In first step customers’ data for credit card is processed to finalize their orders. Amazon warehouse is also information about customer order in this respect for coordination. This is done to find out stock information at Amazon warehouse. However, in case of shortage at Amazon warehouse appropriate suppliers are selected. This information is transferred to publishers, music companies and electronic OEM for further process. After receiving order information publishers, music companies and electronic OEM dispatch required products physically to the nearest Amazon warehouse. At Amazon warehouse these items are packed and also send to customer place through UPS or US postal services. In this way Amazon develop integrated business operations that share information over its network for effectiveness. Figure 1: Amazon Network of Fulfillment Amazon integrated system speeds up the process and customers can receive their product at same or next day. This will positively contribute to customer’s loyalty. Moreover, Amazon also made required changes to its fulfillment system when needed especially for huge order fulfillments. For instance Amazon received record advance order of 275000 for single volume of Harry Porter. This challenged information staff at Amazon. During such event  Amazon mailed to its customers for confirmation of delivery information. Moreover, before shipment data regarding each package was updated. For Shipment purpose Amazon contracted with FedEx for shipping 250000 orders at released date that scheduled 100 flights to fulfill orders. In this way, Amazon successfully met such huge order fulfillment on released date. 2. Low Cost Strategies: Porter (1980) argued that firms can gain sustainable competitive advantages through adopting differentiation, cost leadership or focus strategies. While on the other hand Loudon & Loudon, (2006) argued that firms can gain cost leadership through online operations as it reduces ordering and inventory cost. Mass customization at Amazon also augmented its profitability through high activity with low variable cost. Fixed cost per unit decreases with the increase in activity as compared to variable cost per unit (Drury, 2006). While in case of Amazon fixed cost of system dominates as comp ared to nominal variable cost. Cost of technology, many parts of fulfillment cost and advertisement costs are fixed in nature. On the other hand Amazon is bearing nominal variable cost. This indicates that high activity will lead to low fixed cost per unit cost that Amazon can use to settle for low prices. So, this mass customization will also lead to high productivity that ultimately will optimize profits through decreased fixed cost per unit. Moreover, Amazon also reduces its costs through cross docking shipments. For instance Amazon place its different items like books, toys, electronic etc simultaneously in single order to the closest warehouse located near to customers. To do so, Amazon uses its â€Å"12 technologies† to optimize solutions and to predict demand. 3. Customer Fulfillment Network (CFN) Strategy: On the other hand Amazon has also adopted the customer fulfillment networking (CFN) strategy that emphasize to augment gross profit margins through purchasing books directly from publishers rather than involving distributors who add their profits. CFN strategy was developed to integrate customer relationship management and order fulfills management applications. CFN system compares customers’ demand with their capabilities to recognize that whether Amazon can fulfill their orders with reasonable profits or not. It also allows predicting dynamic demand that ultimately reduces the carrying cost and transportation cost at Amazon warehouse. Moreover, it also allows improving their cash flow as less cash is tired up in inventory and increase inventory turnover that ultimately augments firm’s  profits. 4. Customer Centric Strategies: One can also explain Amazon’s success in respect of its ability to extract and use of customer information. Amazon keeps a complete record of all of its customers. Amazon main a data base that knows that when and what a customer orders. If a customer has not been placing order for some time then Amazon sends him an e-mail coupon containing information regarding entirely different or related product line to stimulate customers for reordering. For instance it is possible that you will receive an e-mail regarding computer equipments products if you last purchased a notebook. 4.1 personalized Options: Similarly, Amazon.com also provides convenience in selecting products over its website through customization. Web pages are customized according to the liking of their customers. One can easily personalize his selection when he login as a customer at Amazon.com. All the Amazon products are divided into 34 broad categories. A person can select and search within these 34 broad categories easily. It is consistent with their strategy of providing convenience to customers. 4.2 Customer Review: It is argued that digital means of information can be used to communication product quality and also creates a bond between buyers and sellers especially within online markets (Chevalier and Mayzlin, 2006). Amazon also stimulates its customers to write editorial and review of book they purchased. This option of book review communicates positive information to other potential customers and increases the like-hood of purchase. It is also consistent with Chevalier and Mayzlin, (2006) who also argued that improvement in scores obtained by a book through book review contributes to purchase intentions and lead to high sales revenue. 4.3 Quick Shipment: Providing hassle-free fulfillment of customers’ order is also viewed as one of the key success areas of Amazon. For most of the product Amazon offers same or next day fulfillment. This is what makes different Amazon with other online retailers. However, Amazon does this through its integrated order fulfillment process as demonstrated in figure 1. Operation Strategy: Dell Introduction Dell is a technological sales company which performs their business in the whole world as is possible to see in the following diagram. With net revenue of $61,133,000,000 is the second largest computer manufacturer company in the word and the number one in United States. Dell focuses on Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) commerce to satisfy their business and individual customers. Dell differentiates between classes of customers because the needs of their business customers, who buy large quantities of computers, are different than the individuals who want to configure a single unit. The present document is oriented to analyze Dell just since the point of view of operations management starting with a review of the company, after a look over Product design process, the internal process and the technology associated, how Dell forecast the coming productions rates, how Dell manages their inventory, which is the quality model followed by the company, which is the human resource strategy to finalize with conclusions and reflections. 1. Operations Strategy Identify the operations strategy of Dell is go almost in all the main activities of the company where operations is relevant. Under this perspective, the list of strategies is related to some areas of operations inside of the company: * Be the greenest technology company on the planet and the first computer company to achieve carbon-neutral operations by the end of 2008. * Continue leadership with the climate strategy and global recycling programs. * Partner with customers in energy-efficiency and climate-protection initiatives. * Broaden the Global Citizenship commitment. * Recommit efforts to improve sustainability governance. 2. Product design process For Dell, Globalization has impacted directly in the management of the product life cycle involving more stakeholders during the process of product development; thereby the complexity of this process has become more complex  as well. The most important factor introduced in the product life cycle is the environmental issue. For Dell, the design products have to be energy efficient, to avoid unnecessary materials and to be easy to use, which is supported by rigorous business controls and supplier audits that consider (Dell, 2008): * Energy Efficiency: Dell delivers optimized performance per watt, and help customers deploy systems efficiently. In this way, IT is an important avenue to decreasing cost of ownership and enhancing productivity while reducing a customer’s carbon footprint. * Precautionary Chemicals and Materials Use: Dell design to eliminate the use of unregulated substances if we believe they possess hazard characteristics similar to other, regulated substances. If alternatives are not yet viable, Dell works to develop reliable, environmentally sound and commercially scalable solutions. * Supply Chain Sustainability: We expect suppliers to uphold the same commitment to environmental responsibility as we do, as a condition of doing business with them. Dell design activities are compliant with this internationally recognized standard for environmental management system criteria (ISO 14001 certification program) Other main stream of definition of what Dell is doing in terms of product design rely on the participation of their own customers. The website â€Å"Dell Idea Storm† (http://www.ideastorm.com) where customers participate directly in the conceptualization of products giving their own ideas of develops, voting for another ideas already posted or simply criticizing products from the company. This website is a very comprehensive platform to cover an appropriate SWOT analysis of products design due to the huge variety of post and group discussion on it. 3. Processes and Technology 3.1 Production process The well known operation model of Dell called ‘Dell Direct’ base its value added in just work on demand eliminating intermediaries in procurement, manufacturing and distribution processes. The technology used by the company in the manufacturing process is the base of success and therefore play a very important role in its operations. Dell’s technology allow to the company to combine its resources, its relationship with suppliers and its consumer communication capabilities, developing one big advantage over its competitors. Dell is in â€Å"Mass Production† process category due to mainly the stable demand of products, the assembly work as a main line of production and with a good level of efficiency. To consider Dell as a manufacturing or assembly company is a constant discussion even for the employees of the company. Due to the nature of the products (mainly computers) they build new products that do not exists in the market, in this sense they are manufactures. But in another sense they just assemble component which production is on suppliers, in this sense could be considerate that dell â€Å"buy to sell†. In this document the company will be considered as a manufacturer company. The generation of innovative ideas for the production line is pulled due to the necessity of new kind of products defined basically due to the interaction with suppliers and customers. All the Dell manufacturing centers use the same processes enable by the same systems and are measured in the same way. This insurance consistency award quality across the global network and also allows identifying and implementing best practices. The standardized process of manufacturing is divided as is illustrated in the following diagram. Final Test and labeling Order accumulation area Software Installation and Testing Customer Order Pull Kiting Boxing Build These processes are described as follow: * Customer order pull: receive the electronics orders closer to the ship destination. In this point the order is transferred from Dell order management systems to the Manufacturing scheduling system. The servers of the facility keep the track of order process associating serialized parts with unique codes. * Kitting: the build to order process of Dell generate request for materials which is delivered to the factory. Since there are no warehouses the inventory system is very important and every part is serialized and labeled since this is received from suppliers (which are basically important for Dell quality system). The scanning of these tags associated to the order indicates to the personnel which components should be part of a specific order, and at the end of the kidding line, all the parts of a single unique order are ready for the next step. * Build: the scan of the code associated to the single order gives to the personnel specific instructions to builders based in the customer requirements. In this step, Dell associates every single component using bar codes to the order allowing a better quality control for the company. * Software Installation and Testing: Directed by the main brain, the central gives specific instruction to ensure all the components are presents and operating properly before to install any software in machines. * Boxing: This process ensures all the components required by the user are properly stored and ready for the ship. Once finished the boxing, the order goes straight for shipping or the order accumulation area. * Order accumulation area: When the client creates and order, all the required products start at the same time but not all of them finish at the same time due to process variability. Once all of them are finished the shipping process starts. * Depending form the order, there is an external synchronization with others manufactures as monitors or printers manufacturers for example, which allow to Dell to reduce inventory with extern products to the production line. 3.2 E-business E-business is central to Dell’s entire operations and Dell uses e-business extensively across its entire value chain to deliver high levels of service to its customers and suppliers. Dell basically does trades with two of the four main kind of e-business (B2B, B2C, C2B and C2C) and both of them based in the internet architecture * B2C: the main stream is represented by direct communication between Dell and their customers. Internet allows this direct communication avoiding intermediaries. This guarantees a good quality service for the customers, efficient processes, decision makers in real time, higher customer expectations and globalization. * B2B: this stream of communication connects Dell with their suppliers allowing and efficient process of communication with the same benefits described in B2C. Also, the when big corporations and governments are clients, the definition of relation is established in a very particular way treating them as a special customers that need a special attention. 3.3 Technology In terms of technology, Dell in all its experience in all the manufacturing centers has implemented a large number of solutions in order to accomplish a constant improvement in the value chain. Basically, the main source of constant improvement has been Internet, helping Dell to establish good relations with both their suppliers and their customers. The high level of integration that this technology has allowed is on simple evidence through the corporate website (www.dell.com) where for example suppliers are allowed to follow their material as it used throughout Dell’s operations. They can log-on, drop off invoices, check engineering change orders; review negotiated and forecasted cost reports, and track their overall performances and progress. The â€Å"Dell i2 Supply Chain Management (i2SCM)† is the name of the solution implemented to cover communications necessities with suppliers. This implementation enabled to Dell to reduce costs providing component suppliers and Dell planners with global views of product demand and material requirements. In partnership with IBM, both have managed to maintain high employee productivity. The join in between companies to design the productions lines provide near unlimited availability to their IT infrastructure. Another outcome of this partnership is the use of electronic catalog with appropriate search functionality. As an example time ago, Altiris Recovery Solution was selected by Dell for integrated delivery of backup and disaster recovery. Altiris along with Dell Open Manage Client Administrator (OMCA) will provide â€Å"Direct integration of Altiris backup and recovery technology with Dell OMCA which helps ensure business continuity and helps provide additional cost savings for Dell customers through proactive IT management†. These factors implemented into a concrete disaster recovery plan provide Dell and IBM with the confidence to scale and complex IT network. 3.4 Production Layout Dell is by definition an assembly manufacturer company, where basically the process is only one and the assembly line as well. Dell does not build any part or piece of the computers, lodging basically in their own suppliers which have the necessary expertise and commitment with dell’s production line. If we consider Dell and their suppliers as a unique company it will be represented as typical â€Å"Process Layout†, and Dell will be of course in this exercise the assembly department. The main advantages of the â€Å"Product layout† (or assembly line production layout) are: * The amount of time for a product to be ready is faster in general if it is compared with other kind of process layout. * The set up cost of the product layout is low due to the facilities does not vary in position and functionality. * Due to the tasks of every stage are very specific, the efficiency of this kind of distribution (production layout) is higher than others types of layouts. This very related with the high continuity of the assembly line. * The necessary planning in order to be concern about matters like synchronization is very low if it is compared with other layouts, this because is just one continue line. * The required level of expertise is not so important as well considering that the main task is to assemble. There is no much hard production processes to take care about. * For Dell the level of inventory is very low, maybe too much low considering the average industry in â€Å"Products Layout† companies. This is because the technological advantage of Dell using Internet. As negative point in Dell layout oriented to product, it is possible to say that the required infrastructure is more expensive than other layouts because the high degree of cohesion that should exist in the assembly line which it demands a high technology and dedicated machinery. 4. Supply Chain As is possible to appreciate, Dell Company is in the middle of all the operations since suppliers till the final customer. The simplicity of this model put on evidence the absence of intermediaries in the supply chain, which is synonymous of low cost, fast answer to client’s orders. The communication between Dell and suppliers is by Internet, and in real time which it means that the suppliers are constantly monitoring the status of components in order to prepare new orders and negotiate the prices on demand. Usually suppliers have warehouse building nearby Dell’s Manufacturing Centers in order to reduce the risk of lack of components in the main assembly line of Dell and assuming at the same time the inventory costs that Dell is avoiding. The suppliers usually feed the starting point of the Dell’s assembly line, but as the illustration show, it is possible to have some suppliers after the production line of Dell (even out of Dell facilities). Partnership with screen or printer manufacturers, allow to the final user to order for products that are absolutely out of Dell’s production lines, and it is just necessary to complete the order in their warehouses to finally ship the order to the client. Is important to recognize that the use of Internet is the blood of this system, without this technology would be impossible to coordinate such value system. In order to make the service easier for customers within this supply chain, Dell has divided their home page into a number of major customer groups: * Home & Home Office, * Small Business * Medium and Large Business and * Government, Education & Healthcare 5 Forecasting, Planning and Scheduling 5.1 Forecasting As a forecasting method Dell, as many other big companies, base their analysis on the records stored on the internal Customer Relationship Manager system (CRM). This system stores every registry made by customers in order to analyze the tendency of the actual behavior and predict demand for certain products in the future. Now considering daily operations on Dell, there is a â€Å"Short Range Forecast† process that operates constantly. Dell uses state of the art production planning programs that forecast the quantities of components needed to build  the computers. After those forecasts are made, supply chain systems pass those forecasts to suppliers, who respond with cost estimates and plan their production as a result. As the CRM, the mentioned i2SCM (technology section) is another provider of forecast information as well, providing real-time factory scheduling and inventory management. These methods used by Dell are considerate â€Å"Quantitative Forecast Methods†, leaving for decisions makers, the forecast that comes from â€Å"Qualitative Forecast Methods†. 5.2 Scheduling Dell bases its scheduling process in the system i2SCM system output. One of the basic tasks of i2SCM is to streamlines the supply chain in order to keep a constant flow of component in the starting point of the assembly line, and considering this, as a consequence is in charge of provide a manufacturing schedule the whole plant. This scheduling process is refreshed every 2 hours. 6. Inventory Management Dell has implemented â€Å"Just-In-Time Inventory System† which operates on only 6 days of inventory. This simple number implies a huge benefit for Dell because this enable to the company to reduce the warehousing costs, also is not necessary to hire people to put in charge and maintain the inventories and though technology become obsolete very quickly, for Dell this is not a problem because they don’t hold obsolete technology in its small inventory. The way how Dell controls, in terms of basic definition its inventory and the costs that this means is being a â€Å"Demand Pull Company† (used as well as a Lean system method), whereas one of its top competitors (Compaq HP for example) is strictly a supply-push company and operates in a more traditional manner. 7. Quality model Since several years, Dell has been operating their manufacturer plants using the production standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 (Dell). Dell operations in China have been distinguished by Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and China Quality Management Association for Electronics Industry (CQAE) receiving wards such as â€Å"Excellent Quality Management Corporation†, â€Å"Excellent Quality Management Team’s and â€Å"Excellent Quality Management Individual†. It demonstrates Dell’s commitment to providing high-quality products and superior customer experience (Dell). The main support behind this award is the constant focus in the customer-centric strategy, and the will for a constant improving in the quality management system. In Dell, the quality control process starts from engineering design and the early testing stages during which design for reliability is the priority. Been conscious of quality standards in early analysis of failure mode, the product design is based on typical customer profile and operation requirement. It is important to consider that reliability test and improvement are also keys factors to ensuring the best quality. In addition, Dell has extended the â€Å"quality chain† putting great emphasis on suppliers’ quality management, as the company always regards the quality of the components as crucial factors for product quality. According to this, Dell has established a set of scientific and complete management process, which ensures final product quality through rigid selection and process control of industry-leading suppliers. Considering the whole process, the Quality Management during manufacturing process is the strongest guarantee of Dell products’ quality. Engineering pilot and employee training are conducted before any new product launch. Through Statistic Process Control Quality Analysis, Dell is able to detect and improve incoming material and process issues, which guarantee the best manufacturing quality. 8. Human Resources Strategy Dell’s direct business model influenced an organizational structure that fosters direct communication and open-minded listening. As an strategy to  accomplish this objective is to listen employees, and this is done through â€Å"Tell Dell† program, a voluntary and confidential employee opinion survey. This program is developed to encourage employees to speak frankly and privately about Dell’s principles, values, strategies, policies, managerial effectiveness and employee engagement. In this way the HRM department, after taken the measurement, is able to act in direct response to surveys. Some responses to these kind surveys were for example in the past: * Implementation of an employee purchase program * Greater work-life flexibility * Streamlined decision-making processes * Increased focus on employee development * Improved customer solutions Less formal but equally important strategy to get employees feedback is Employee Storm. A tool that enables every Dell employee to bring experiences and creative solutions to Dell and our customers. With the objective to reduce mistakes and its consequences, Dell has implemented a strategy related to ethic tools. This strategy defines for example policies of communication in order to allow employees approach the company when they feel is necessary according to the defined Dell Code of Conduct. These policies are: * Open door policy * Global Ethics and Compliance Team * Ethic helpline Since Dell is committed to inclusion and diversity, their mission is to succeed in the marketplace by fostering a winning culture in which Dell employees are highly talented, committed, reflective of our global customers, and recognized as our greatest strength. For Dell â€Å"diversity† is the core of their values and winning culture. For this Dell has implemented the following activities: * Employees networking groups. A program that connect employees that share the same nationality, gender, ethnicity, etc. * Diversity Education and Training. Providing quality professional development opportunities to all employees. * Work/Life Effectiveness. Committed to balance the employees contribution to the company with their personal lives. Other areas of strategy where Dell has been working on are: * Global talent management * Employee health and wellness * Employee sustainability engagement Conclusions It is very interesting to remark that Dell, a multinational company with a big size, is successfully capable to repeat basically the same formula of manufacturing process in every manufacturing center that the company has. Dell has been able to repeat the best practices across the borders around the world which by definition represent a big challenge for any company. Never the conditions will go to be the same: restricted markets, cultural shocks for employees, different cost structure are some of the factor that usually affect multinational companies with operations in many countries around the world. Dell strategy found its success in basically the correct and optimums use of technology; Internet is practically the blood of Dell system, or the base of Dell success. Dell’s business model bases its success basically in Information technology. There is not a revolutionary change in the way how to do business, is just a perfect example of how to take advantage of technology to become the most efficient competitor in the computer sales industry. Even though Dell business model is very well know, has been a model very difficult to imitate basically because the huge investment that companies should do together with their suppliers. The supply chain structure in this case is the key of success. Is not a matter of investment coming just from Dell to have success, is a sacrifice coming from Dell, suppliers and partners that in some way are trusting in Dell way of doing business. Trust in the value chain, is definitely a very big competitive advantage for Dell. The product mix from Dell is not as broad as directs competitors are doing it, which in one way has allowed to Dell specialization, focus and expertise in the field. But is a risk at the same time because depending basically on a very limited amount of product and services it does not open many alternatives to explore new markets or develop innovative solutions amount the products and services. Even though Dell is considered a very successful business model, the company has been having problems. These problems are reflected in financial reports which indicate that Dell is not reaching the rate of growing that they were expecting. Although Internet is the base of its success, it has been a big problem for Dell as well, since the point of view that important bloggers has been complaining in the net about the pour quality of services and this has spread quickly between users a non god image of the company. Dell is working on this blog phenomenon taking care of every comment done in the net about their products and services. Another problem faced by Dell is that Dell is becoming victim of its size because they are trying to keep the rate of growing in a market where the value of their products fall significantly every year , this means that to keep the rate of growing is necessary to have a higher rate of sales. As a final weak point in the way how Dell is approaching businesses, Dell is relaying increasingly on new markets which it means that Dell is just applying best practices and knowledge in the field rather than go deep with a study of the new entrance. This could be a risk considering the diversity and cultural matters in between their customers. Operation Strategy: IBM Introduction: IBM or International Business Machines is a well known American computer manufacturer, founded by Thomas J. Watson (born 1874-02-17). IBM is also known as â€Å"Big Blue† after the color of its logo. The company has made  everything from mainframes to personal computers and has been immensely successful selling business computers. Drawing on the strength of the full strategy and change practice: Operations Strategy is one of the four competencies within IBM’s larger Strategy and Change team. The three parallel competencies are Business Strategy, Organization Change Strategy and Technology Strategy. Operations Strategy helps clients resolve a variety of critical issues from strategy and planning to day-today operational improvements. IBM practitioners specialize in identifying the capabilities that are required to execute business strategies and in defining how operational models should be configured, implemented, and continuously improved. With deep experience in operations strategy, IBM provide clients with the support needed to address the operational issues that are crucial to success. Helping clients with critical business issues: Clients look to Operations Strategy for help with these critical business issues: * Cost efficiency and performance improvement * Focus on company’s core business * Increasing shareholder value * Continuous process improvement * Maintaining competitive edge * Improving customer service quality * Migration to new technology * Product innovation management * Merger synergy realization. IBM experience in successfully formulating and implementing operations strategies lies in three main areas: * Helping clients formulate operations strategies that align corporate and business strategy with organization, technology and process strategy. * Providing process expertise for business process change, reengineering and operational improvement, cost reduction, Six Sigma, innovation management, and post-merger integration. * Assisting clients with outsourcing strategies and their execution, including make/buy/partner decision strategies, domestic and global outsourcing, and creating scalable operations. Utilizing a proven, consistent approach: All Operations Strategy engagements incorporate the following key elements: * Mobilization – Utilizes preparation and planning to help increase the odds of successful and timely project completion. * Situation assessment – Establishes a shared assessment of the current and future situation with senior client management. * Strategy development – Defines strategic options and specifies strategic initiatives which are Designed to create significant value for the client. * Implementation planning– Determines critical success factors and establishes change programs to implement the strategic initiatives. * Learning – Measures and adapts the strategic management process in real time utilizing key Performance indicators. Providing a full suite of offerings: Operations Strategy has a diverse range of capabilities, including: Rapid process change: * A solution for rapidly identifying and delivering a step change in process, organizational and systems performance. Rapid process change focuses on achieving tangible operating improvement results in an accelerated time frame. Six Sigma/Lean Sigma: * Strives to create both operational excellence and a strategic change in the culture of a corporation, division or business unit. These engagements  are designed to increase customer satisfaction and drive out costs by helping to improve processes linked to company strategy and key performance indicators. Six Sigma also helps build an enduring capability within the organization that can create and sustain competitive advantage over the long term. Design for Six Sigma: * Extends Six Sigma principles to the development of new products, services, processes, and plants that are designed to precisely meet client current and future needs. Strategic profit improvement: * A framework designed to deliver improved financial performance, including: increasing revenues and margin, reducing costs and assets, strengthening infrastructure, and positioning for future growth. Service after the sale: * Helps clients lower their customer service costs and find new sources of revenue and value-added differentiation. Product innovation management: * Supports the business decision making component of product development. These engagements are designed to reduce time-to market and product development costs and they help increase the pace of innovation. Enterprise focus: * Determines which components of a business are strategic and critical to success of the enterprise and which are not. Then identifies opportunities for improvement and transformation by comparing critical business requirements and operational capabilities. Shared services implementation: * Our team builds a business case for the transition to a shared services operational model, designs a custom shared services solution, and then works with the client to successfully implement the change. Outsourcing governance: * Helps organizations establish a program management office capable of supporting outsourcing Initiatives throughout their lifecycle, from qualification and assessment to development and Operation. Demonstrating success at numerous clients: At one client, a leading consumer electronics manufacturer, benefits of the project included: * Reduction of overhead costs due to redundant / inefficient overhead services and infrastructure in Corporate HQ and five worldwide product divisions. * Annual savings of over $400 million, including: agreements in infrastructure sharing and Governance, shared services and elimination of cost drivers and redundant resources, and establishment of a project management office for active savings tracking and reinforcement. At a large manufacturer of aluminum products, we developed and implemented a new operating model. The scope and results included: * Analyzed operations for 15 business units in 10 countries * Creation of global process models * Over $300 million in annual savings, including improved processes, continued focus on cost Controls, and adoption of best practices across business units. Finally, we developed an outsourcing strategy for a leading manufacturer of semiconductor equipment. The scope Included: * Working with client executive team to develop a vision and operating model * Implemented the model, focusing new investment in core business processes and developing and implementing the roadmap to outsource all non-core processes to save client significant cost and increase competitive advantage. IBM Clients: A small sample of IBM clients includes leaders of every industry and all levels of Government: ABB| Ford Motor Company| Motorola| Aetna| Goodrich Corporation| Novell| Alcoa| Halliburton| Panasonic| America Online| Honda Motor Co.| Raytheon| Ashland| IKON Office Solutions| Royal Philips Electronics| Atkins Nutritionals| International Truck and Engine Corporation| Selectron| Bloomberg| Lam Research| Siemens| BP| Lexmark International| Sony| Chevron Texaco| MCI| Tyco International| Circuit City Stores| McKesson| United States Department of Agriculture| Dupont| Medtronic| Verizon Communications|